Quiet Heartbeats
by misschiyo
Summary: <html><head></head>The new scholarship student has two secrets, one he's really a girl in disguise, the other, she's a vampire. Will anyone find out her secrets or can she keep them forever? M rating for possible future chapters. Slightly OOC</html>
1. Starting Something New

**A/N: Hello, this is my very first fanfic so please be gentle. Read and review if you'd like. There are a few bits that will be out of character, but it will help the story. Thank you for reading. ^_^**

**I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING OHSHC RELATED! **

She woke up with a start everyday. Every single day was the same. Her eyes glanced over at the clock and she groaned. Today was her first day at the elite Ouran Academy. She should be happy, even over joyed, but these emotions had never done much for her. She closed her eyes and tried to escape the remnants of her everlasting nightmare.

_"Mom!" a little girl screamed. "Haruhi, where are you?!" In the distance Haruhi could hear her mother's panicked voice calling to her. "Haruhi!" "Ah, so Haruhi is your name, you filth," the man spit. His friends just laughed. "To think people are afraid of your kind," he yelled as he grabbed her by her hair and dragged her down the alley with him. "Disgusting bloodsuckers. Best way to be rid of you is to start of with the young," he smirked. Haruhi, unable to hold back her tears began screaming as loudly as she could. "Please stop! You're hurting me!" she sobbed. He dropped her to the ground and kicked her. "What gives you the right to speak to me?!" he bellowed, landing another kick to her stomach. As she gasped for whatever breath she could get, her mother rounded the corner. "Please don't hurt her!" she shouted. The two other men turned to her and then back to their friend. "Why stop with the kid, let's wipe out the whole family?" one of them said. The leader of the group just laughed sickly, watching the little girl groan and gasp on the ground. "You're right." he smirked. "M-m-mommy!" Haruhi cried. "It's ok sweetie, I'm here, just stay still ok, I promise it won't hurt forever." she tried to give a warm smile, but her tears betrayed her. She felt sick, knowing that this wasn't going to end well. "Please, take me, but don't hurt her. Please, she's just a child," she pleaded, falling to her knees, no longer able to hold herself up. "Please." she begged. The man just laughed again. "Why the fuck should I care what trash like you asks for?" She just continued to beg, her eyes flooding with the fear she tried to keep at bay. Then there was a loud bang. It rang through the alley, making everything else stand still. Haruhi watched her mother wince in pain and then slump over, lifeless. "Mom!" she screamed. The men turned to her and started beating on her, kicking and punching any part of her that they could reach. "Filthy scum, die with your mom." the man breathed, finally exhausted. He looked at her mangled body and spit on her. The three men walked away, feeling quite pleased with themselves. "Disgusting they exist with us." They left the unconscious Haruhi and her dead mother in the alley, without looking back. Sirens could be heard, but it would be no use. The girl looked worse than anything the paramedics could've prepared for. "She's still alive," one of them sighed, "how...?" he questioned, looking past her and at the woman to his left. _

_All around her she could hear the buzzing of machines. "Mom..." she whimpered. Tears escaped her eyes and again she found herself submerged in darkness. The doctors in the room didn't know what to do. "She's been through alot, but she's a vampire. What are we supposed to do? We've already done too much, we can't help her anymore. We are supposed to report this." One of the doctors said. Another sighed, "Do we even know if she has any other family?" "No," the first replied. Then as if on que, a man could be heard shouting in the hall. "Where is she?! Where's my Haruhi?!" he screamed. One of the doctors left the room and stopped short of the man. Everyone seemed to be keeping their distance. "Who are you?" the doctor asked as calmly as he could. "Is she here?" The disheveled man asked, "Is my baby here?" he started to choke back as many sobs as he could, but he had to know. After seeing that two people were involved in a brutal assault, and seeing Kotoko's picture plastered all over the news as deceased, his heart broke. He could feel his whole life shattering. How could this have happened? Why... And then they said there was a small girl who survived. His baby. He had to save her. "Please, let me take her home." he swallowed, "She's all I have left. Please" he begged. The doctor sighed and put his hand to his head. "Mr. ?" "Fujioka, Ryoji Fujioka." the man replied. "Mr. Fujioka, you know as well as me that you are not allowed to leave until the authorities arrive to relocate you and your daughter," the doctor looked away as the words escaped his mouth. He never had any problems with vampires. He had never actually met one before. But his fears bubbled up seeing this man, and knowing that the girl in his ER was recovering from what would have been impossible injuries in just hours, instead of months, were in fact vampires. "This is too much." he hissed under his breathe. He knew he would get fired for this, but the broken look on Ryoji's face, and the tears he saw in his daughters eyes were too much for him to stomach. Never in his professional career had he felt anymore guilt than he did right now. "Just go, take her and go." he said exasperated. Ryoji looked up at the doctor and cried. "Thank you sir, you have no idea, no idea what this means to me." Ryoji pulled himself over to the room where his daughter was strapped to the bed. His heart sank as he watched her breathe with so much difficulty. He slowly unbuckled the straps, and removed the IV bags. He lifted his fragile little girl from the bed and held her as close as he could without aggravating her injuries. "I'm so sorry Haruhi," he breathed. "Forgive me." _

That was ten years ago. She relived that day, everyday. Again she sighed. She and her father had moved here, to escape being found out. Vampires are very rarely seen. They were a dying breed, a fact that Haruhi was blatantly aware of. When they are found out, they are attacked, harassed, and removed from their homes for the safety of their human neighbors. Fear always won out in the battle of hearts, and it didn't matter if you posed no threat to them, if you were different you were feared. In order to keep safe, her father had her dress as a boy. Her whole life was a secret. Feared and vulnerable. That's what he always told her. So she was raised as a boy. She didn't mind all that much. It's what's on the inside that counts, not what gender or race you are, that's what she told herself. Her father had always been a cross dresser so it made her laugh a little to think she was one now too. Her long locks cut into a short mop, luckily having an underdeveloped body for her age, she could wear pretty much any clothes and still be considered a boy. She was told to stay away from cute things, sweet things, anything that could make her seem like a girl. She also became cold and distant. She never got close to anyone and used all her time to study and work towards her goal. Her dad worked two jobs, barely managing to keep them afloat, but he would do anything to keep that one little place he could call home. After losing everything ten years ago, they had to do their best to never be found out again. Never. Again. Though her name was the same his was Ranka now. She sighed, looking back at everything. She looked around her room. Everything was neutral. Nothing to stand out. The small space held only her bed and a desk. She then looked down at her arm. Her secret stuffed animal tucked close to her chest. The bear had lost one of its eyes, and was so discolored she had no idea what color it had been to begin with. She stuffed the bear into her pillow case to hide it from her dad, and looked at the clock again. Six forty five. Slowly she drug herself out of bed and off to the shower. She noticed her dads door cracked just slightly and looked in. His room was pink and frilly. She cringed inwardly and kept walking. Once done she walked over to the fridge, and stared in blankly. Ten thermos containers of blood stared back at her. She sighed and grabbed two from the fridge, one she began to drink from almost immediately, the other she tucked into her bag for lunch. She then made a bento to throw people off. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep it down but it was a life she was used to. She learned to keep it bland, and had stored gum and a tooth brush in her bag. It was such a waste of food, but well worth it to keep her home. She wrote a note to her dad telling him of his shortage of food, leaving it vague in case of visitors. He would know where to replenish the supply. Pig's blood wasn't hard to come by, but buying something like that had to be done with the proper channels, lest eager eyes see and send them away. She and her father didn't partake in human blood, but that didn't mean the occasional opportunity wouldn't arise, like her fathers drunk boyfriends. She had never had the urge to partake but her father had his moments of weakness. Though she wondered how it would taste, she didn't want to be caught. She packed up her bag and put on her uniform. It wasn't the issued uniform for the school, but a boys uniform all the same. Her glasses seemed to big for her face, but she didn't mind as it helped her keep attention from her mouth in case her teeth made an appearance. As she walked to the door she looked at the picture of her mom in the shrine her dad had made. "I'm sorry mom." she whispered. She made her way out the door and locked it, slowly making her way to the school.


	2. Just A Chance

**I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING!**

**Thank you for reading, please enjoy.**

Chapter 2: Just a Chance

Ouran Academy was a very large school. Only the most elite got into this school, unless you were lucky enough to pass the grueling exam process. It had taken Haruhi weeks of preparation and extra classes before she felt comfortable taking the actual exam. Now that she was finally here, it all felt a bit gratifying. This place would make her goals achievable and that meant everything to her. She would become a criminal justice lawyer and look into the laws on vampires. It is what her mother had done. Haruhi felt she owed it to her mom to finish her dream, because she was at fault for what had happened that day.

Walking through the halls made her feel out of place. The floors were so clean you could see your reflection in them. The halls were circled by glass that allowed you to look outside no matter where you were, giving her a perfect view of the courtyard, and the beautiful clock tower. She stopped to look at it a little longer,before she heard whispers behind her. She knew that people would have things to say about her because of her class, and clothing, but even so, being prepared for it, and then living it were two different things. _"Damn rich bastards."_ she thought to herself. She had heard enough and began to walk toward her class. Class 1-A, the top class in her year. For her scholarship she had to maintain top position in this class. A foolhardy task for those less prepared, but Haruhi entered the class with her head held high. She went to the far wall at the back where she would be able to see out the window. Now that she had picked her seat, she noticed others around her moving away from her.

"That's the commoner." one girl said.

"What's with his clothes?" another responded back. Both girls giggled behind their hands and took seats at the front of the classroom. Haruhi just sighed and pulled out her notebook. As she waited for class to start, she continued to look out at the courtyard. There were so many students here.

_"Who knew there were this many rich kids?"_ She chuckled at her thought, and then went back to her stoic face. Couldn't break character here, after all. At the five minute bell, most of the class had found their seats. It was quite loud, and she kept receiving odd looks. She decided to just lay her head down for a moment and ignore all the stares. Then someone kicked her seat. She looked up and saw two red headed twins with golden eyes looking at her.

"You're in my seat." one of them said.

"Hikaru," the other said nervously, "We can just sit somewhere else."

"No, it's fine, I'll move." Haruhi said as she grabbed her things. She moved one desk over, thankfully she was still able to see out of the window.

"Now you're in his seat" the twin named Hikaru said, his face distorted into an odd smirk as he tilted his head towards his brother.

"I can just sit in front of you" the other twin said as he went to move in front of his brother.

"No! Then I can't see you Kaoru!" Hikaru said as he latched to his brother's face.

"Hikaru," Kaoru said sheepishly, "There are too many people" he sighed as a blush crept its way across his face.

"I don't mind if they see, after all I love you Kaoru." Hikaru said huskily, placing his forehead against his brothers. At this point, some girls began squealing. The noise almost seemed inhuman. Haruhi grabbed her things again and moved to the desk in front of the desk she was just sitting in. With that, the brothers released each other and took their seats, their smiles from ear to ear. Some of the girls had fainted, and some of the boys looked like they were blushing.

_"What is with these kids?"_ Haruhi thought to herself. "_I have a feeling this is going to be a long day."_ She sighed and looked up as the teacher entered the class room. The day went by as expected on the first day of school. The teachers mostly went over the syllabus, and outlined how the schedules worked. By lunch Haruhi was beyond bored. She couldn't wait until classes actually started. It almost felt like being in daycare the way the teachers spoke to the students. She stayed in her classroom for lunch. She just picked at her food until she was the only one in the classroom, at which point she happily shoved her lunch away. Most people had looked at her funny when she pulled out a bento, like they had never seen one before. At this point she almost wouldn't put it past them. Unable to stomach any more, she threw away what was left, grabbed her bag and headed to the restroom. Being as she was playing a boy, she went into the male restroom, looking around to make sure no one was in it, or the hallway. She had gone to one in a different hall, hoping that the other classes were still going. Once inside a stall, she hung her bag on the hook, and purged what she had just eaten. She couldn't taste human food, but she could taste the bile coming up. It was disgusting, but she couldn't do this in the class room. She sighed as she flushed the toilet and went back to her bag. She pulled out her thermos and gulped it down. For a moment her eyes flashed dangerously, and her fangs crept from hiding. She wiped her mouth and leaned against the door. Licking her lips, and breathing out slowly, she recapped the thermos and put it away. Just as she opened the stall she heard two sets of foot steps heading her way. Quickly she went to the sink and washed off her face and rinsed out her mouth. The last of the blood went down the sink just as the two boys entered the bathroom.

_"Of course it would be those stupid twins."_ She thought as she wiped her face dry. She picked up her glasses and placed them back on her face. She reached into her pocket and pulled out some gum. Unable to brush her teeth, she didn't want her breathe to smell of vomit.

"Hey commoner, what kind of gum is that?" one of the twins asked.

"Spearmint." she replied shortly.

"Can we have some?" the other twin chimed in, placing his arm on the other twins shoulders.

"Ummm." She started looking down at her pack, then looking back up at them. "Sure. You just have to take it out yourselves." She stated handing them the pack.

"Are you sick or something? Usually people just pop out a piece and hand it to you, not the whole pack." One of them said as he retrieved his piece and passed the pack to his twin.

"No, I just want to be cautious. You never know what kind of people you are dealing with. Next time I will just give you a piece." she said irritated. Truth was, she didn't want them to feel how cold her hands were.

"Here you go." the nicer twin said, as he walked over to give her the pack. His hand slid against hers briefly as he handed it to her. "Hey Fujioka, your hands are really cold." he said with a concerned look. She yanked her hand away quickly, and looked down at the tiles.

"Oh, yea sometimes after I eat my blood pressure acts up. It's no big deal." she lied, scratching the back of her neck.

"We know someone like that! We call him the low blood pressure demon lord!" They both said in unison, bursting with laughter.

"Well, I'm not a demon, I just get cold hands." she said, slowly heading towards the door. _"Demon,"_ she thought. _"I have to stay away from that person."_

"Hey where you going Fujioka?!" They said in unison again, grabbing her shoulders to keep her from moving.

"Yeah, we want to walk back to class with you!" One said.

"Just give us a sec, and we'll be ready." The other said walking over to one of the urinals, his twin next to him.

"Oh, ok, I will just wait at the door." She said, not really wanting to see this happen. "_Why don't boys have any shame with one another?"_ She thought to herself.

She stood just outside the door waiting for them, not bothering with the looks other students were giving her. It would look pretty weird seeing someone just standing there, she guessed, but still it wasn't her fault these twins had taken a liking to her.

"So Fujioka, why don't you talk to any of the others?" One of the twins asked as they started walking towards the classroom.

Haruhi shrugged, "I don't know, I just don't feel like opening up to people I guess." she said not really giving it much thought. "I noticed most people don't talk to you either." she added looking over at them.

"Why bother with others, we have each other." They spoke together, shrugging their shoulders. Haruhi couldn't help the laugh that escaped her as she watched them, but quickly stifled it, trying to cover it up with a cough.

"Why are you laughing?" One of them asked, looking at her surprised.

"I'm sorry," she responded looking down, " I guess it was just funny how much you guys mirror each other." she said, not looking up. The twins watched her for a moment as she gathered her thoughts, slowly getting that same creeping feeling they always get, "_Everyone thinks we're the same."_ Hikaru looked upset, and Kaoru looked sadly at his brother, both grabbing each others hands and waiting for the inevitable. "You two look the same but you're so different, so it's funny to me to see you mirror each other so well." she finished with a small smile. At this, the twins stopped walking and were staring bewildered at her.

"What did you just say?" Hikaru asked her, trying not to show his disbelief.

"Yea, what makes you think we are so different?"Kaoru added.

"Can you even tell us apart?" they both finished.

She looked up at them, shocked slightly by the sadness in their eyes and then smiled again. "Well, yeah." She said with confidence. Pointing to the left she said, "You're Kaoru," then she pointed to the right, "And you're Hikaru." She tilted her head a bit and waited for them to respond. They both looked at each other, then back at her. Their eyes said the same thing, but she couldn't quite read it.

"How did you know?" They asked in unison again.

"Well," she started, "Hikaru, you have a bit of tendency to be aggressive at first, and more mischievous out of the two of you, and Kaoru, you tend to be the more soft spoken of the two, and... you don't squeeze my shoulder as hard as your brother." She finished with a laugh, then watched the two of them register what she had said. About two seconds after she had finished speaking she was wrapped up in four arms. "Wait! What the hell?!" She yelped as they snuggled into her. As they let her go with wide smiles, they shouted, "Let's be friends!" Her shock was still weighing heavy on her. No one had hugged her since her mom had passed. Her breathe was uneven, but when she saw their smiles she couldn't help but feel a little calmer. Why was she even being nice to them, she didn't need friends, she just needed herself. Then again, they were the first people to talk to her without a reason, that she could remember. Maybe she could give them a chance. Just a small chance. She wouldn't get her hopes up, but maybe a chance couldn't hurt.

"Um, I'm not really used to _"friends"" _She said shuffling her feet on the floor. "So I don't know how to be friends with you, but I guess we can try. Just... don't keep touching me okay?" She said, rubbing her arms to calm herself, thanking every god she could name that her bindings were so tight there was no way she could be mistaken for a girl.

They didn't even respond, just started walking back to the classroom, smiles bigger than they had been in years, Haruhi in tow. As the bell rang again for classes to start, all three sat in their seats with new thoughts on their minds. _"Just three more classes to get through and this day is over."_ Haruhi sighed to herself.

Again the classes were bland. Curriculum's and pressure to join clubs. The final bell rang, and she was happy to get out of there. Shoving her things in her bag, she couldn't shake that she was being watched. Looking through her bangs she noticed the twins hadn't left yet and were in fact leaning against their desks waiting on her.

"Hey Fujioka," Hikaru started.

"We have a club you could come to." Kaoru continued.

"Though you probably won't be able to join." Hikaru snickered.

"But you could still see if they will let you help set up just for today." Kaoru continued again, elbowing Hikaru in the ribs.

"Hey!" Hikaru shouted, then looked back to Haruhi.

"Well, I guess I could come, though just to look around. I don't want to join a club anyways, I just haven't gotten to see much of the school yet." She said as her shoulders slumped. She yanked her bag on to her shoulder and looked up to see two very eager twins about to pounce. She held up her hands defensively, "Please, please don't hug me!" She shouted, ducking out of the way of the first attack. The twins laughed and shrugged.

"We can't help it, you're so easy to tease." Hikaru said laughing.

"Yea, besides," Kaoru explained, also laughing.

"You're our new toy!" They finished together, both tussling her hair. They grabbed her arms and drug her out of the classroom. They were headed up the stairs to the third floor, passing at least four libraries full of shouting students.

"Do rich kids just come to school to play?" She asked them, a hint of irritation in her voice. "_What a waste of education"_ she thought to herself.

"If you think that's bad." Kaoru started.

"You're probably going to hate our club." Hikaru finished, his smile turning mischievous again.

"What kind of club is it?" she asked in a panic, trying to pry her arms free.

"You'll see!" they both exclaimed, gripping tighter. As they got to a door at the end of the hall, they stopped. Music room three.

"You're in a music club?" she asked surprise evident on her face. This caused the twins to erupt in a laughing fit. When they finally calmed down they were wiping their tears, trying to explain.

"No, no our little toy." Hikaru started, turning the knob on the door.

"Our club is way cooler than that." Kaoru continued, pushing the door open and Haruhi through it.

"Welcome!" came a chorus of voices.


	3. Welcome

**A/N: Sorry for the late update. I was really sick for two weeks now. Anyways, thank you for reading and hope you enjoy. This chapter was a little hard to write, so it might be a bad read, but the next chapter will be great. Thank you again. Enjoy ..**

**I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING**

As she tried to get her eyes to adjust to the blinding light she was shoved into, she noticed rose petals all around her. At first she thought she was dreaming, but then she heard the door close, followed by the twins laughter. She looked around this very large room and noticed four other boys staring at her, almost as surprised as she was.

"Ne, ne Takashi, we've never had a boy come to the club before, have we?" a small blonde with brown eyes asked a tall dark haired boy to his left. The taller boy responded to his companion with a grunt as the smaller boy climbed up to his shoulders.

_"Why is there a child here?"_ Thought Haruhi, as she tried to wrap her head around what was going on.

"This is our new friend." Kaoru started.

"Yea, this is Haruhi Fujioka, he's in our class." Hikaru said, nudging Haruhi a bit closer to the group.

"Ah, yes, Fujioka. The first year honor student. A pleasure to meet you." A tall boy with dark hair and glasses said as he pulled a black notebook from under his arm.

"Wait, I understand the twins knowing my name, but how do you?" Haruhi started to ask, but was cut off by another boy lunging toward her.

"Fujioka! As in the commoner scholarship student!?" an exuberant blonde, with violet eyes yelled, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Please, let me go." Haruhi said nervously. _"What is with everyone I meet being so handsy today?"_ she thought.

"Hey boss," Hikaru started, pulling the blondes hands away from Haruhi.

"Haruhi doesn't like to be touched." Kaoru continued, helping his brother. The blonde removed himself from her shoulders but continued excitedly walking around her.

"Well, Fujioka, it's not everyday a commoner like yourself is admitted to such a prestigious school as this. It takes quite a lot of nerve to try, let alone get in to our school, for a commoner." The boy with glasses said to her in response to her question.

_"A lot of nerve?"_ she thought to herself. _"Damn rich kids."_

"Yes! You're like a hero to common folk everywhere!" the blonde jumped at her again grabbing her arms. He started spinning her around with him as he continued on about "_Common people and their lack of skills to move forward in life."_ When he finally released her she was standing in the middle of all the boys.

At this point something strange happened. Never before in her life had she smelled anything as good as what was around her. She could feel her teeth begin to release. _"What is this?"_ she thought. _"I can't... I can't control myself."_ Her mind began racing. Her dark brown orbs were slowly bleeding to red. _"I have to get out of here!"_ She thought. Keeping her eyes to the ground she frantically tried to find the exit. She started backing away, hoping that she could get out of here before anything happened. Before she got far though, the blonde latched onto her arm again, attempting to show her around. Somehow the smell of whatever cologne he was wearing was enough to cover some of the smell, and she began to regain some composure. Her eyes transitioned back to normal, but her teeth were tearing into her lower lip. _"Shit"_ she thought.

"So, commoner. I didn't expect you to be so openly gay. Well, no matter. We cater to all our clients, so what would you like? The strong silent type?" he asked pointing to the tall dark haired boy. "The boy lolita?" he asked pointing to the blonde on the tall boys shoulders. "Maybe you like the little devil type," he said pointing to the twins, "Seeing as you three are already quite close." he added with a wink. "Or maybe you like the cool type?" he questioned pointing to the boy in glasses. "Or." he paused, "Maybe you're into someone like me, the princely type." he said, placing his hand on the side of her face. She flinched and began shaking. She couldn't even register what was going on. Her panic was taking over, as he stared into her eyes.

"Please don't touch me." She rasped out, hoping to get the message to this blonde who would not leave her alone.

"No need to be shy, just because you are gay, doesn't mean we will judge you. I promise I will be gentle." he said smoothly, allowing a sly smile to cross his lips. He took notice of her shaking, but passed it off as nervousness. His mind told him that he was succeeding in seducing even a boy, and for that he was more than thrilled to take advantage of. The twins however noticed the urgency in their new friends voice. Looking at each other and then back to the two who didn't seem to be reading each others signals, the twins began to approach.

"Hey boss, I don't think he came here for that." Kaoru started.

"Yea, we just wanted to show him the club, you can let him go." Hikaru finished. Both reaching towards their leader again.

"Nonsense. No one can resist the charms of the host club." He responded waving off the twins, still focused on Haruhi.

"Please. Don't. Touch. Me." she ground out again. Her throat becoming constricted. Her fangs were digging into her lower lip as she tried to hold them back.

"Shush now, little kitten. No need to be scared. I can protect you." the blonde continued attempting to woo her.

"Let me go!" she ground out a little louder. At this point, the others had taken notice of the discomfort and began moving forward as well.

"Tamaki, that's enough." the boy with glasses stated firmly. The blonde however grabbed Haruhi's hand with his free hand firmly. That was when Haruhi snapped.

"I said let me go!" she screamed, pulling his arm forward, swinging her leg behind his knee, knocking him down, whilst bringing the arm she had a hold of behind his back and forcing him to the ground. The others watched in shock, then quickly the tall dark haired boy pulled her off of Tamaki to keep her from harming him further. Tamaki looked dumbstruck. This had never happened before. The twins were confused and scared for their friend, and the short blonde and tall dark haired boy held her back as she fought to go forward. In her mind her thoughts were racing. She was picturing the day in the alley. The men dragging her, hurting her. She could feel the few scars she had burning, and renewed anger grew within her. _"Monster! Scum! Bloodsucker! Demon!"_ She kept hearing those words being shouted at her. Her tears ran freely and her breathe went uneven. Tamaki was apologizing profusely, and the twins were trying to console her with words, not getting too close for fear of being hit. The boy with glasses just watched amazed at the strength this new boy was exhibiting, wondering what would've caused a reaction like this. It all stopped abruptly when a vase shattered to the ground. In Haruhi's mind, it was the gunshot. Her body stopped moving, her tears stopped falling, even her fangs went back into hiding. Her eyes were dull as she looked up to see everyone staring. She looked behind her to see the two boys holding her, and then looked to the ground to see the vase that was broken. The boys released her, realizing she stopped fighting, and she fell to her knees, staring at the broken pieces of glass.

"I'm sorry." she said quietly. Everyone looked at her oddly, then at Tamaki who had quickly become quiet as well. "I can try to pay for it." She continued. At this everyone froze. Should they tell Haruhi how much it cost? Or hope he would let it go for Tamaki's conduct?

"Um, hate to break it to you Haruhi, but that vase costs eight million yen." Hikaru said with a bit of a laugh at the end. She looked over to him with wide eyes, and then to the other club members, all of whom were trying not to make eye contact.

"Eight million yen?" she asked to no one in particular, her voice barely above a whisper. At this point the boy with glasses walked over to where she was and picked up a piece of glass. "Is there any way I can repay you?" she asked the boy in glasses. To this he looked towards Tamaki. Then back to her. His eyes were blocked by the shine in his glasses, as he seemed to think something over.

"Well Tamaki, what would you have us do?" he asked looking over to the blonde. Tamaki looked up at his friend as if his light had been renewed and stood up. He went over to his chair shaped as a throne and sat down with his hands folded at his chin.

"Well Fujioka, as they say, when in Rome, do as the Roman's do. As of today, you are the host club errand boy!" he said pointing a finger to Haruhi. At first she was shocked, even upset. But then her guilt set in. She had attacked him after all. She was just glad they let her pay it off, after she had attacked one of them. She stood and went over to him and bowed apologetically.

"I'm sorry Tamaki-senpai, thank you for letting me work off this debt." She said as she straightened back up. Tamaki squealed in excitement.

"That was so cute! Did you guys see that?" he yelled. "That's how you should all treat your king!" he continued. "Haruhi, I think you're going to make a great asset to our little group. Welcome to the Host Club!" he finished.

"Host club?" she asked, then spun around and glared at Hikaru and Kaoru who were whistling and rubbing their neck.

"Well, we did kind of warn you." Hikaru said, trying not to laugh. At this point no one expected Haruhi to burst out laughing. After all of the adrenaline and confusion that she had just put herself through, she couldn't help it. To the other hosts however, it was almost scary. She fell over in a fit of giggles and the twins couldn't hold it in anymore and joined in the laughter. Even the little blonde laughed too, though not really sure what was going on. The giggles were just contagious.

"Kyoya," Tamaki whispered over to the boy with glasses. "What's going on?" he questioned as he watched the group in hysterics.

"That's a good question." Kyoya mused as he too watched in confusion. Their tallest senpai just watched in amusement. "_What an odd first day"_ They all thought.

After everything had calmed down in the club room, and everything was cleaned up, everyone seemed to be in better spirits. The laughing fit had helped erase any tension that had been felt from the fight before.

"Well, since you all know me, I was wondering since I'm going to be working for you, can I know your names as well?" Haruhi asked, looking again at the hosts in front of her.

"I see we forgot to introduce ourselves due to the odd nature of our meeting, my name is Kyoya Ootori, I'm a second year." The boy with glasses stated, not looking up from whatever he was writing in his black book.

"I'm Mitskuni Haninozuka, and this is my cousin Takashi Morinozuka, we're third years, and cousins!" excitement radiated off of the small blonde boy as he pointed to himself and the tall dark haired boy, his smile wide enough to make Haruhi smile in return. "But you can call me Hunni and him Mori, that's what everyone calls us." he giggled. Mori just grunted in response, with a small nod to Haruhi. She noticed a look of concern in his eyes, but looked away quickly. It felt like he was trying to read her.

"And I'm the host club king, Tamaki Suoh!" Tamaki exclaimed striking an odd pose next to his throne sending a smile to her. She nodded to him, and then looked at the twins.

"I already know you guys." She said with a small grin. "It's nice to meet all of you." She stated looking to the rest of the group.

"Now that the formalities are out of the way, we should probably set about preparing for the club. Tamaki..." Kyoya said passing the conversation off.

"Now Haruhi, since you're our errand boy, we need you to go get all the essentials so we can serve the ladies. Here is a list of what to pick up from the market. Make sure you make it back within an hour, club will have already started but we should have enough supplies to last us until then." he said as he practically danced over to her with a list of groceries. Haruhi inwardly groaned, but took the list anyways. She was the one who offered to work for them after all. As she was leaving she saw girls lining up outside of the host club door. When the girls saw her, they instantly started gossiping.

"Do you think the commoner is in the club now because of the twins?" one girl started.

"Ew, no way, they'd never let a commoner in, he probably just owes them something. You know how Tamaki-senpai feels about taking care of commoners." another announced quite loudly. All the girls giggled.

_"This commoner thing is getting old."_ Haruhi thought to herself as she tried to walk faster. _"Now where to get all this stuff?"_ She examined the list before deciding to try the market where she lived. Not really used to buying things like this she was extremely hopeful.

Meanwhile back in the host club...

"Tamaki, do you think it's a good idea to have him in the club?" Kyoya asked his friend. "He did have a good reason to knock you down, but still..." he trailed off, looking to Tamaki to see his reaction.

"I may have pushed him to act so recklessly." Tamaki said, with a far away look. "But he treated me like a real king! You should all learn from his example!" he exclaimed pointing to them all, his smile almost blinding. Kyoya sighed and shook his head, heading back over to his table.

_"Was this really a good idea though?"_ Kyoya asked himself. "_Well at least I will get more information on him. His file is so empty, something feels off."_ He sighed and turned on his laptop.

The twins watched their senpai's, and then walked to their couch.

"Hey Kaoru, I wonder why Haruhi reacted that way." Hikaru said as he flopped down on the couch.

"Yea, me too..." Kaoru added, leaning up against his brother. They sat like this until club started. Across the room Mori and Hunni sat in their section.

"Ne, Takashi, something really hurt Haru-chan huh?" Hunni asked his cousin, while eating his strawberry shortcake.

"Yea." Mori replied. At this Hunni put his fork down, and looked at his cousin. He was staring off at the door, as if waiting for something. Hunni smiled slightly.

"Ne, Takashi, we should protect him right?" he asked. At this Mori looked to his cousin and smiled.

"Yea." He said, as he pat Hunni on the head. To this Hunni resumed eating his cake, content with their new mission.


	4. You're A Host

Haruhi had finished shopping and was now headed back to the host club. She was glad her father's many boyfriends liked to drink coffee, and her father had found an affinity for it as well. It was odd how they could drink certain things without upsetting their systems. She was lucky she could drink tea, whilst her father found coffee and tea both alright. She had picked up a few other items, such as milk, and went on ahead to the school. She stood outside the door for a moment, listening to the loud laughter and clinking of tea cups. She sighed and slowly opened the door, hoping to not draw attention to herself. Of course her entrance didn't go unnoticed by Kyoya. He watched as Haruhi tried to walk as far away from everyone as possible, paying extra care to avoid Tamaki, as if her life depended on it. This made him laugh to himself just slightly before he went back to his laptop. Hunni and Mori had noticed Haruhi after she had dodged Tamaki's table and tried to watch her to make sure she made it by, while trying not to let the guests notice they attention was elsewhere.

"So Tamaki, I heard that there was a kitten without a pedigree here in the host club." a girl with reddish hair said, sipping her tea innocently.

"Well, I wouldn't say that." Tamaki said with a smile. "Oh look here he is! Haruhi welcome back!" he exclaimed. At this Haruhi cringed slightly and walked over to his table. "_I was hoping to make it past him"_ she sighed. Tamaki reached into the bag and pulled out some of the coffee. "Hey, Haruhi what is this stuff?" he asked, looking over the container like it was foreign.

"It's coffee, just like you asked for senpai" Haruhi stated blandly.

"I've never seen this type before, how do you make it?"

"What do you mean? You just add water." She added slightly annoyed. At this point the others had come over to Tamaki's table.

"Just add water? Like commoner's coffee?!" Tamaki exclaimed jumping up from his spot, making the auburn haired girl spill her tea slightly. She flashed a glare at Haruhi, but she just ignored it, more concerned by Tamaki's sudden movement, Haruhi took a step backwards only to walk into the twins. She was starting to feel blocked in, and inwardly panicked. Seeing this the twins took a step back as well, wishing their new friend wasn't so jumpy.

"It's just instant coffee, Tamaki-senpai."

"Instant?" a few of the girls questioned.

"Commoner's are pretty smart." Kyoya mentioned as he walked by.

" Yea and it's cheap too!" Hikaru started.

"Only three hundred yen for a hundred grams, way cheaper than the stuff we buy!" Kaoru finished.

"Haruhi, you must make us some commoners coffee!" Tamaki exclaimed walking over to an unused table.

"Tamaki, your palette won't be able to stomach that crap." the auburn haired girl said, fully aware that only Haruhi was in earshot. "Oh I'm sorry, I was just talking to myself." she said covering her mouth with her hand.

"Haruhi come make us this coffee." Tamaki called over from the table now surrounded by other girls. Haruhi just shrugged off what the girl said, and went to make the coffee. Most of the girls seemed afraid to take a sip, but found the courage with Tamaki's sugary words. Haruhi sighed and went to put away the stuff she had bought. After she had finished she walked around the outside of the room again, observing the hosts in action. The twins were in the middle of a very "loving" display for each other, when Kyoya walked up behind her. She acknowledged his presence with a small nod and went back to watching the others, keeping a close eye on him.

"What are they getting excited about?" she asked mostly herself, but at this Kyoya took liberty to answer.

"Every host has their own draw." he said walking over towards Mori and Hunni's table. She followed now shifting attention to the older hosts, and watching them deal with their guests. Hunni was rolling around on a girls lap, while happily talking about what cake he wanted next, and Mori was getting the cake out and cutting it for the guests. "Mori, is strong and silent, most of his guests like to watch him take care of Hunni, whom is child like, as his guests like his care free nature, and fulfills a motherly instinct in a way, for them." Kyoya explained. He walked back towards the twins, now that they were just leaning against one another talking to their guests. "The twins guests like the forbidden nature of their brotherly love act, and though it never goes anywhere, and isn't real, the thought of playing with fire makes their guests come back each week." he said with a small smirk. From where they were standing they could see Tamaki's table and were watching him sugar coat words, and use small touches to have his guests turn to mush. "Tamaki is the king here. He has the prince charming factor that gives him over a seventy percent request rate." Haruhi's mouth dropped open slightly, but she decided not to say anything. Kyoya noticed this and decided to change the subject. "Just so you know, you have a long way to go to pay off your debt. You will be our dog, excuse me, "_errand boy",_ until you graduate. And if you try to run away, I have a private police force of over one hundred men." he said as he concluded this little tour.

"Haru-chan!" Hunni yelled running over to her. "Would you like some cake with us?" he asked squeezing his little pink bunny to his chest.

"Oh, um.. No thank you Hunni-senpai, I don't really like sweets." she said quickly trying to avoid the situation. Hunni made a sad face, and then brightened up suddenly.

"Well, would you like to hold Usa-chan!?" he exclaimed pushing Usa-chan closer to Haruhi. At this she froze. What should she do?

"I don't really like cute things." she said monotoned. Hunni just pressed forward, ignoring the change in her voice.

"You mean you don't like Usa-chan?" he asked, getting teary eyed. Not wanting to upset her senpai she looked at the bunny. His coloring was off in some places, where he had obviously been sewn back together, his eyes were a little lopsided, and his stuffing was worn. It was obvious her senpai cared deeply for this little bunny, just as she cared for her bear, but the level of care suggested it was even more special to him then she could imagine. She looked at her senpai and then knelt down to his level. She looked up to see Kyoya watching, and then looked back to Hunni.

"Are you sure it's ok?" She whispered to Hunni, her own eyes slightly glazed with unshed tears. This time Hunni noticed something was different. He watched Haruhi study Usa-chan a little longer before he had to ask.

"Why wouldn't it be?" He also whispered noticing Kyoya's lingering presence. A small tear escaped Haruhi before she looked down to blink the rest away and she looked to her senpai again.

"I'm not allowed to like cute things. You won't tell anyone right?" She questioned, hoping it wouldn't give too much away. Hunni was shocked. His own childhood flashing back to him. Haruhi was so confused when Hunni suddenly clung to her and began sobbing.

"I'm not either Haruhi, I won't tell I promise." he whispered into her ear. She felt relief wash over her and for the first time, allowed him to hug her. This turn of events not only shocked her, but Hunni and now Kyoya as well. He had not heard anything that was said, but now he was thoroughly confused. _What had she said to Hunni to make him cry like that?_ Her own eyes were glossy, but she had buried her face in her senpai's chest to hide them. Hunni, though upset, was happy that there was someone like him, and even more happy when Haruhi welcomed his embrace. He had seen Haruhi snap on Tamaki, and seen Haruhi avoiding the others. Maybe he and Mori really could help Haruhi. Mori had heard his cousin's cry and immidiately left his table. When he saw that Hunni was clinging to Haruhi, he was afraid of what happened to Tamaki. But when he saw Haruhi clinging back, he was amazed. _How had Hunni managed that?_ Sensing the growing audience, Hunni released Haruhi. She looked up to see Mori standing right behind Hunni, concern in his eyes, and Kyoya next to her, with confusion clouding his. She stood and lent a hand to help Hunni up. He put Usa-chan in her arms, and smiled. She smiled back, and let Mori lead them back to their table before turning back to Kyoya. She offered a small smile, but nothing more, as she started to walk towards the table she had seen Kyoya sitting at before. She sat across from where his laptop had been placed, and waited on him to take his seat.

"Kyoya-senpai, you never told me what role you play. You don't seem to have any guests. Are you the accountant?" She questioned. To this Kyoya nodded.

"Yes, you could say that. Tamaki insists I'm the cool type. I couldn't tell what that means though. As for my guests, they tend to watch me from afar or make rounds with me when I am checking on the in and outs of the host club. I keep the books, and monitor expenses. But I am still a host, either way you look at it." he answered still concerned with what just happened. Kyoya Ootori always knew everything. This would bother him for the week, so he just had to ask. "Please pardon me for being rude," he started using his host persona, "but I have to ask, what did you say to Hunni to make him cry like that?"

"I just mentioned how well-kept his bunny was." Haruhi lied almost instantly. Kyoya knew this. He could see it once the question had been registered. _Why did this boy just lie to him? Two could play this game,_ Kyoya thought.

"I noticed you let him hug you, is it because he reminds you of a younger sibling?" Kyoya asked nonchalantly.

"I don't have any siblings senpai." Haruhi stated, looking down at the bunny. "I guess I just didn't register him as a threat." she finished looking back up to her senpai. He was about to continue his investigation when Tamaki decided to sneak up on Haruhi.

"Haruhi." Tamaki said from behind her. She jumped as he breathed on her neck, and left her seat to get away from him. "You know, if you don't clean up, no girl is going to look at you." He finished, looking Haruhi over.

"I don't really care if anyone looks at me." Haruhi grumbled.

"But don't you want to be a gentleman and please the ladies like me?" Tamaki questioned suddenly pulling a rose out of nowhere.

"I just don't find all that important." Haruhi argued. "Why should I care about labels or appearances when all that really matters is what's on the inside, right? I don't really understand why you have a host club in the first place."

"I know, it's a cruel reality, it's not everyday when such perfection as me is in this world. Both beautiful on the inside and out. Beauty should be shared with the world, like art in museums. I created the club to share our beauty with the world." He said completely pleased with himself. Kyoya had taken to writing in his book again, glancing up occasionally to see Haruhi's reaction, or rather lack of one. As Tamaki continued about teaching Haruhi the basics of being a gentleman, she had tuned him out, trying to think of what he was.

"I've got it!" She exclaimed slamming her fist down in the palm of her hand.

"Oh I see, you are finally understanding the art of being a gentleman!" Tamaki continued.

"Obnoxious!" She stated firmly, having ignored everything over the last five minutes. Tamaki went to his corner of woe, and caused Haruhi to feel guilty, even though she still agreed with her conclusion. "Well, you did strike a small cord with me, senpai."

"Really!?" He exclaimed, back to his usual self. "_He got over that easy_" she thought to herself. " Let me teach you more!" he continued.

"Hey boss, not to be rude or anything, " Kaoru started.

"But you can teach him all about being a gentleman and hosting," Hikaru continued.

"But if he doesn't look the part," Kaoru continued.

"Then it would all be a waste," Hikaru continued.

"Don't you think?" they both finished together.

"Maybe if we take off his glasses?" Hikaru asked as he pulled them off of Haruhi. At this all the hosts got wide-eyed. Tamaki started barking out orders for contacts, hair stylists, and the works, but Haruhi didn't hear any of it as she was dragged into the nearest dressing room by the twins.

"Here, this is a new uniform." Kaoru said as he handed Haruhi a bag. She waited for them to leave but they didn't.

"Aren't you guys going to let me change?" she asked, looking at them. They stared at her for a second confused.

"Haven't you ever changed in gym before? We're all boys here." Hikaru said as if it was common knowledge. She panicked briefly before coming up with some sort of excuse.

"Oh I'm sorry I have a skin condition I'm really embarrassed about will you guys let me change alone?" she asked. They looked confused again but agreed. Not that they wouldn't look through the curtain anyways. Haruhi was their toy after all. Once they left, she quickly changed shirts. She was worried someone would venture back, and didn't want to risk anything. You can't really make an excuse for banding anyways. She was almost finished with her buttons when she saw the curtain move in the mirror. She decided to ignore it and continue, but was so grateful to her dad at this moment for making her wear boxer briefs no matter how much she hated them. The twins, none the wiser to Haruhi's gender, were more focused on the scar they could see on the back of her leg. Where would Haruhi get something like that. They looked at each other and talked to each other with their eyes. _Is this why Haruhi is so afraid of everyone? How many more scars were there? Where were they from_? They left the dressing area and went to contemplate this new information. Kyoya took note of their forlorn expressions and decided to press the issue later. Haruhi emerged from the dressing room looking like a completely new person.

"Wow Haruhi! You look so cute!" Tamaki and Hunni exclaimed together.

"Yea, who knew that this was under all of that?" Hikaru asked sending a smirk to his brother.

"Is it really alright that I keep this uniform?" Haruhi asked ignoring them all, and looking to Kyoya. This surprised him slightly as Tamaki was usually the one the others went to, but Haruhi knowing that he keep the finances was probably the reason for such a question to be directed at him.

"Who knows, maybe you'll draw in some customers." Kyoya, said.

"That's just what I was thinking!" Tamaki shouted. "Haruhi, you're moving up the ranks, as of today, you are a host! If you can get 100 customers to request you, we will forget all about your 8 million yen debt!" Haruhi was shocked. _"A host?"_ she thought to herself. _"What next?" _

"Don't worry Haruhi, I will personally train you to be a first-rate gentleman!" Tamaki said excitedly. To this Haruhi cringed. "_Why him?"_ she thought to herself. "_Figures the one I want to avoid the most is the one I wind up having to spend all my time with."_ She sighed.


	5. Natural

**I do not own anything. Thank you for reading, please enjoy**

Tamaki had decided that he needed to assess Haruhi in action before deciding what "lessons" he would actually need. Haruhi sat at a table in the middle of the room with three girls. Apparently they were all guests of the twins, and were quite interested in the new host. They weren't the only ones. Everyone in the room seemed to be watching, curious how this commoner host would pan out. Tamaki was watching from behind the sofa he was sitting on, the twins had switched couches with their guests to see better, even Hunni had quieted down a bit to hear what was going on. Haruhi just smiled and poured the girls tea. They decided to make the first move and began asking Haruhi about her skin, and hair. Haruhi smiled and nodded to their questions and suggestions. On the outside she was the image of perfect composure, on the inside she was freaking out. She was squeezing her hands so tight, the whites of her knuckles were showing.

"So Haruhi," one of the girls asked, "What do you do with your free time?" Haruhi looked down at her hands, _"I can do this"_ she told herself. She looked back up to the girls and smiled with a tilt to her head.

"Oh, I don't really have too much free time, I mostly study and take care of my dad." She answered, her eyes scanning the girls in front of her.

"Who does the chores around the house?" One of the other girls asked, not really understanding.

"Well, when my mom passed, I took on all the chores. My dad is a mess in the kitchen." she laughed a little.

"Oh that's so sad!" One of the girls gasped. The other two grasped hands, and held onto each other. "Do you do the cooking as well?" She asked.

"Well yes, but I don't mind. It's just me and my dad, and it allows me to try some of my mom's old recipes." Haruhi lied. "_Can't exactly make something that has to be drank the same way._" she thought.

The other hosts watched her interact with her guests quite smoothly after that. They were chatting about different foods, though Haruhi didn't have too much input, and about different classes they were taking. Some of the girls were taking foreign language to help with their family companies, Haruhi found this endearing, but again just nodded and smiled, listening to them and retaining as much as she could. As she poured them more tea, the girls all seemed to be agreeing about something, and then turned to Haruhi with bright smiles.

"So Haruhi, would you mind if we requested you again?" The girls asked together. All three had hopeful eyes and Haruhi was more than grateful.

"That would be lovely! Thank you for spending your time with me ladies!" Haruhi said enthusiastically. She smiled at them and shook their hands, standing she pulled their chairs out for them and helped them up. They walked excitedly to where Kyoya was to schedule their next appointment with Haruhi, and Haruhi was all smiles. Thankful that it went better than she hoped, or expected she looked to her two friends, Kaoru and Hikaru who both gave her a big thumbs up, she smiled back to them and looked over to Tamaki. He looked bewildered. Kyoya walked over to his best friend and just patted him on the back.

"He's a natural Tamaki." He explained. Tamaki just looked at Kyoya and sighed.

"I was hoping we could get along better if I was able to train him." He said defeated.

"Just give him time Tamaki." Kyoya sighed. They both watched a delighted Haruhi smile at the rest of the hosts and couldn't help but feel the relief wash over them that it went better than they had expected.

"Oh Tamaki, don't you wish to spend your time with me?" The auburn haired girl whined.

"Oh no darling, I was just checking on our newest host." Tamaki whispered to her while caressing her face.

"You sure are keeping a close watch on him, please don't forget about me now." She whined again. At this Tamaki snapped his fingers and called Haruhi to him.

"Haruhi, this is Princess Ayanakoji. She is my number one customer." Tamaki explained while placing an arm around Ayanakoji. She sneered at Haruhi as Haruhi acknowledged her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss." Haruhi said with a smile and a tilt of her head. She saw the look Ayanakoji gave her, but shrugged it off. So what if this girl didn't like her. She just needed to get this over with.

"That was so cute!" Tamaki exclaimed suddenly lunging at Haruhi. Having been caught off guard again by this idiot who couldn't keep his hands to himself, she screamed. Tamaki too excited by his perception of the situation did not hear this, nor did he see Ayanakoji storm off. Mori heard Haruhi scream and instantly jumped into action. He grabbed Haruhi from Tamaki's clutches and lifted her up in the air like he would Hunni.

"Um.. Thank you Mori-senpai but please, please put me down now." Haruhi choked out. She was scared out of her wits, nothing was making sense and now she was up in the air. Mori could feel the small form in his hands trembling, and guilt took him over as he placed Haruhi down on the ground. But Haruhi was so small. He knew he was short, and that there wasn't much to his build but he was still so light. _"He should eat more._" Mori thought. He pat Haruhi's head, and walked back over to where Hunni was. His cousin looked at him questioningly, and Mori nodded to his cousin. "He needs to eat more." He stated, concern in his words. Hunni got a big smile.

"Maybe we should share some cake!" He grinned. Mori just shook his head and tousled his cousins hair.

"Maybe." He agreed. They both looked over to Haruhi, who was stumbling her way towards the dressing room.

"I um.. just need a moment." she said as she walked past Kyoya. He nodded and went over to console Tamaki who was in shock over the abrupt disappearance of Haruhi.

"Why can't you keep your hands to yourself?" Kyoya hissed at Tamaki as he picked him up from the floor. "Get back to your customers. Princess Ayanakoji has already left quite upset." he informed him. To this Tamaki immediately went back to his prince charming persona, giving roses to his remaining guests.

"I apologize princesses." his words coming out velvety causing all the girls to swoon. Kyoya just walked away looking at the dressing rooms, he heard a commotion coming from behind the curtain but just as he got close, they were ripped open by a very angry Haruhi. Haruhi, had been hoping to calm down once in the dressing room, but soon found her bag was missing._ "Where is it, where is it? It was right here!"_ She almost walked into Kyoya, when she left the confines of the dressing area, and skirted the walls again. Tracing her steps from when she had walked in, she noticed something strange in the window. _"How the hell did my bag end up in pond?"_ furious she stormed out of the club room and down the hall as quick as she could go.

"You must think highly of yourself, being doted on by the host club like that." Ayanakoji said as Haruhi walked by. She stopped but didn't look back at the girl. "Don't let it get to your head though, you're just a filthy commoner, they are just taking interest in you because you are a new toy." Ayanakoji walked away at that, and Haruhi just shook her head. She continued to head towards the fountain, her head pounding with frustration. _"Fucking ignorant spoiled rich girl, I bet she is the one who threw my bag in the fountain."_ She pulled her shoes and socks off, rolled up her pants and began treading through the water. She pulled out most of her belongings, now she just needed to find her wallet. She heard some splashing behind her and looked over to see Tamaki in the water with her.

"You know, skipping out on the club like that will make Kyoya increase your debt. You really shouldn't just run out like that." he said all-knowingly. She just sighed and continued digging through the water. He took her lack of response as a sign that it was ok for him to be there. Though she had no real thought on it currently, he was ecstatic. "Why is your bag in the pond anyways?" He asked, looking over at the mess of water logged items that were once the contents of her bag. She sighed again, not wanting to deal with this.

"It must've fallen out the window or something." she lied. He looked at her oddly. He had never noticed that any of the windows could be opened. He looked up at the club room and saw that this was in fact true. But he wouldn't press it, hoping that he could get more out of him.

"I see." He began looking in the water again, this time pulling out what looked to be a small wallet. "Is this what you are looking for?" He held it out for her to inspect. She took it, and stared at him for a moment before thanking him. They walked over to the cement where she shook her feet a bit. She began to rifle through her wallet to make sure nothing was damaged. Happy that the contents were unharmed, she smiled over at Tamaki.

"Thank you again, Tamaki-senpai. Sorry for the trouble." She stretched her hand out to shake his, which he gladly took, happy for once that Haruhi had initiated the contact and wasn't screaming or trying to kill him.

"We're a family now, all of us would help you out." he said firmly, releasing her hand. She nodded at this, not in belief of what he had said, but in acceptance that maybe one day that could be something she might believe. They walked back to the club room carrying her wet bag and its contents. She set her things out on the floor in the dressing room, minus her wallet which she had now pocketed. Sighing she stepped out into the club room again, which by now was empty of guests. Finally this day was drawing to a close. She began the clean up she was instructed to do, and was more than happy to bolt once finished, leaving behind her school jacket and bag. She could hear protests of her senpais, but she just wanted to get out of there.

In the club room

After Haruhi left, the other hosts visibly deflated. Each had their own thoughts on this new host, but none were more curious than Kyoya. He had witnessed many of the strange occurrences first hand and was now ready for some answers.

"Excuse me everyone." he began, stopping them all as they gathered their things. "I would like to ask about Haruhi, if that's alright." The hosts nodded and went to the main table occupied by Tamaki. Hunni and Mori exchanged looks to one another, unsure of what this would bring. "I have noticed that each of us has had quite...unique... encounters with our newest host. I was wondering to talk about them, so we all know where he stands in the group. After the episode earlier this afternoon, I'm sure you can all agree this is acceptable." The hosts again nodded, this time the twins shared a concerned look before, turning back to the others.

"Well," Kaoru hesitated.

"He has a very weird scar on the back of his right leg." Hikaru finished for his brother.

"We were wondering if maybe something happened"

"That might be why he doesn't like others to touch him."

"I see" Kyoya stated, writing this in his black notebook. "So that explains the twins behavior earlier." he thought. Kyoya looked over to Hunni and Mori next, expecting them to take the reigns and share their details.

"I think Haruhi has a bully." Tamaki threw out suddenly. Kyoya now looked to his best friend in disbelief, it was just the first day of school after all, how could anyone already have a bully. With all eyes on him, Tamaki thought it best to explain. "I found Haruhi digging through the fountain just before club finished. He told me he must've dropped his bag out of the window, but none of the windows in this room open." All of the other hosts looked to the windows and saw the same truth, this was something that had to be resolved quickly.

"Who would want to hurt Haru-chan?" Hunni questioned, squeezing his Usa-chan tightly. Mori keep his stone face, but agreed with his cousin.

"We have to watch carefully to make sure nothing happens. After all, I told him today that he was a part of our family." Tamaki stated matter of factly. The other hosts looked at Tamaki like he'd grown another head, but just let it go. Hunni looked to Mori questioningly but Mori just shook his head. This gesture wasn't missed by Kyoya. _"So Hunni already told Mori, but what is it?_" Kyoya cleared his throat, looking right at the cousins.

"Did anything happen with you two, I know Hunni ended up crying, did Haruhi say something to upset you?" Hunni's eyes went wide, and he looked to the other hosts, biting his lip.

"Nothing like that, I just felt bad for Haru-chan. Me and Takashi don't think he eats enough." Hunni lied. Tamaki nodded his head in agreement which made the twins question him.

"How would you know boss?" the asked in unison.

"Well, because I may have forced hugs on Haruhi, but I could still feel how bony he was." he answered smugly. Everyone ended up talking about their plans for the next day on how to make sure their new host got plenty to eat, and how to catch his bully.

"So the twins will walk to classes with him, and we will take shifts during hosting hours to watch how the others interact with him." Kyoya read out of his notebook. The others nodded in acknowledgment. "What about before school?" He asked. The others pondered this for a moment before Hunni spoke up.

"Me and Takashi can watch out for Haru-chan before we go to class. We get here early anyways." Hunni stated looking to Mori for his approval. He got a nod, and Kyoya marked it down in his book.

"Alright, so we have a plan of action." he stopped when he heard his phone ring. "I think that is enough for the day. Excuse me everyone." he said, while walking to a corner of the room. The others agreed that it was indeed enough and gathered their things to leave. Tamaki waited for Kyoya, who came over once he was finished on the phone.

"My father wishes me to visit one of the hospitals, so I can't go home with you today Tamaki." To this Tamaki just nodded sadly.

"I understand, mon ami. Thank you for helping out with Haruhi today. I really hope he will let us all help him." He said with a far away look. "Anyways, have a good night my friend. Don't work too hard." He pat Kyoya on the arm and gave it a slight squeeze, before walking out of the club room. Kyoya gathered his things and took his leave as well. _"Another late night_" he sighed.

With Haruhi-

Part of her was rethinking leaving the way she had. She had hurried to get out of there, but why? She started to kick a few of the rocks around on the ground, before heading up the stairs to her apartment. She stopped at the door and sighed. She unlocked it, and went in, kicking off her shoes. She went to the fridge and grabbed a thermos, one of the many that had been restocked, and downed it. Her fangs slipped out of hiding and her eyes went red. This time she didn't fight for control again, just let it happen. Happy that she could relax without having to reel her real self in, she went to her room and stripped down to just a t-shirt and her boxers. Collapsing onto her bed thoroughly exhausted, she fell into a fitful sleep. A few hours passed when she woke up with a start to the front door being closed rather loudly. She groaned and looked at the clock. It was nine fifty eight. _"Why is he getting home so late?"_ she questioned, tip toeing towards the door and looking out a small hole where she had opened it. There she saw her dad, and another man giggling and kissing, while pulling their shoes off. "_Oh I get it"_ she sighed. She closed the door and went back to bed to get what little more sleep she would get before she would have to give up trying. There were two taps on her door and she knew it was her dad. She went over to the door again and opened it. She tried to pull it open further than before but her dad kept it still. _"Oh they don't know I exist"_ she clicked her tongue and looked over to her dad again.

"Yes, I get it. Stay quiet, go to sleep, and sneak out when I go to school." she said not hiding her hurt. Her dad just smiled softly at her. He opened the door a little more and kissed her head.

"You know I love you sweetie, things won't be like this forever. It's just... I really like this guy, and I need a little time to work things out with him." Her dad smiled again, and she just sighed.

"It's fine dad. I don't really mind anyways. Have a good night." she said closing the door before he could say anymore. She heard him walk to his room and giggle a bit. She heard things falling off of the nightstand, and the unmistakable sound of bedsprings beginning to move. Then she could hear more noises, noises she really wished she couldn't hear. Fed up she grabbed some baggy jeans and a hooded sweater and pulled it over what she was sleeping in. She reached in her dresser and grabbed a pack of cigarettes before heading to the window. She looked out and saw the sky was clear and she climbed out, up to the roof. _Being on the third floor had its advantages_, she mused to herself. She climbed down from the roof and began walking up the street to her favorite spot.

Kyoya had been at one of his family's hospitals doing rounds with his brother, at his father's request. He was exhausted and really just wanted to go home. That is until his driver slammed the brakes suddenly. He rolled down the divider to ask what had happened just in time to see a very unmistakable Haruhi slam both fists on the hood of the car and shout at his driver.

"It's a fucking crosswalk asshole!" She yelled, she continued walking and held up both middle fingers down the length of the car. "I am so over stupid rich people!"

This surprise caught Kyoya in an odd state of amusement. He got out of his car, his driver began to protest but he looked at him sternly and let him know he knew the weird boy that had assaulted his vehicle. The driver nodded reluctantly, and Kyoya began to go in the direction Haruhi had. He pulled out his phone and punched in a code. He heard a beep behind him and he put up two fingers signaling the guard to follow. He did not want to be in this neighborhood alone. They walked for about twenty minutes before they came upon a park with a large tree. He held up a fist to signal the guard to stay, and walked into the park, where he saw Haruhi jump up on a low branch of the tree. Haruhi hung there for a second before pulling herself up. She heard something behind her and looked.

"Senpai? What are you doing here?" she asked bewildered.

"That's a good question Haruhi, I could ask you the same could I not?" he asked. He pushed his glasses up his nose and smirked at the irritated look she was giving him.

"What I do outside of school is up to me." she barked. To this he sighed.

"So slamming on the top of cars, and flipping off drivers is something you do regularly then?" Her eyes almost popped out of her head before her irritation came back in full with a click of her tongue. He would've laughed had he not wanted to test Haruhi more.

"I was in the crosswalk. Your driver should've stopped." she spat.

"What if it had been someone other than me?" he questioned. To this she snorted.

"I don't even care." she sighed. The air was cold enough that you could see her breathe, too exhausted to argue with her senpai, she looked to him again, "I apologize senpai. You can go back to your night. Sorry to disturb you." She closed her eyes and leaned against the tree waiting on him to leave. He saw this and was surprised that the fire he had seen not thirty minutes ago was diminished already. He walked closer to the tree and tapped the branch. Haruhi stumbled a bit but opened her eyes. "Is there something else you need?" She asked.

"Help me up." He said blandly, reaching his arm up. Haruhi stared at him for a moment before registering what was happening.

"Senpai, you do realize you are in your school uniform still?" she asked him. He nodded and shook his arm signaling her to go ahead. She just shrugged and reached down to help pull him up. At first he was caught off guard by how cold her hands were. He helped Haruhi as she pulled him up by getting some footing on the tree. Once they were on the same branch, he wiped his hands on his pants, just to see Haruhi climbing further up the tree.

"Where are you going?" he yelled up at her.

"I want to show you something." she said plainly, looking down at her confused senpai. He sighed angrily and followed her up. It didn't take too long before he got to a branch where he saw Haruhi sitting down. She noticed him and patted the place next to her. He came and sat next to her with a huff. She pointed up and to the right. He looked to where she pointed and calmed almost instantly. You could see the moon from here, almost like you could touch it. "This is my favorite place." she sighed. He heard a click and looked over to Haruhi to see her lighting a cigarette. She inhaled deeply, and looked over to him. She saw his mouth slightly agape and laughed. "Would you like one?" she asked. Not really sure why he nodded yes, he took one. She held the lighter for him and told him to inhale. He did so, and began to cough.

"I didn't really think it would hurt." he coughed out, and Haruhi just laughed.

"Senpai, really?" she giggled slightly. "Just take it slow. Geez." He glared at her and she just shook her head. She went back to watching the moon. He watched her wearily and continued to try to smoke without coughing. Eventually it didn't burn anymore.

"Why are you out so late tonight senpai?" she asked quietly, not really sure she wanted to know, just asking to break the silence.

"I had some work to do for my family." he said in a bland manner. She nodded taking another drag from her cigarette. "May I ask the same of you?" he questioned, thinking back to the information he had gathered from the others.

"I just didn't feel like being at home." she sighed. "Not like it matters."

"Are things not well at home?" he asked, slightly surprised by the answer.

"Things are fine at home, I just don't feel like hearing my dad getting his brains fucked out." she sighed. "Why wouldn't things be ok at home anyways?" she questioned. Kyoya sputtered when she mentioned her father, unsure of how to approach the subject. He weighed the questions on his brain and looked at Haruhi again.

"Well the twins mentioned this scar..." he trailed off.

"Ah." she responded. She took another deep drag and look over to her senpai. "That's not from home." she stated blankly.

"Can I ask about it?" he questioned.

"You already are aren't you?" she scoffed. "It happened when I was young. I fell out of a tree." she lied. It was the lie she had always used when someone looked at things they weren't supposed to see. "The bone broke the skin and there is a scar now. That's all there is to it." she sighed, her cigarette finished, she pocketed the butt. "It's cold out here," she said changing the subject. "You ready to head home yet?" She asked him.

"It is quite chilly." he agreed. "Would you like a ride home? As apology for my driver of course." Haruhi contemplated this before deciding she was far too tired to actually walk all the way home.

"Is it really alright?" she asked, not really sure if she could trust it.

"I don't ask unless I mean it." He said not even bothering with it. They both began to climb down the tree, once on the ground Kyoya called his driver and had the car brought to the park. To say the driver was surprised would be an understatement. He had not expected to see the vulgar boy as close to Kyoya as he seemed.

The two teens climbed into the car, and Haruhi gave her address to the driver. They sat in comfortable silence as the car drove. Haruhi had fallen asleep almost instantly, her knees tucked to her chest and her head resting on the window. Kyoya watched Haruhi in fascination. He hadn't expected Haruhi to fall asleep so quickly, then again he hadn't expected this to be such a long drive. He reached over to shake Haruhi awake once they reached her apartment complex, and she jumped, waking up unaware of where she was. She lunged at Kyoya and pinned him down to the floor of his limo. He stayed calm, seeing how fighting would just scare Haruhi more, and softly spoke.

"Haruhi it's ok. I don't want to hurt you." She registered what he said and let him go.

"Kyoya-senpai?" she questioned. She looked around and sighed. "I'm sorry senpai..." She climbed off of him, and went to open the door. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

"Haruhi, what happened to you?" he asked, looking her over.

"Life." she answered, not looking into his eyes. She was ashamed. She had attacked two people today. "Senpai, thank you for bringing me home." She climbed out of the car and walked up to the apartments. She waited on the car to continue moving before climbing up to the roof. Kyoya however had seen her climb to the roof and was not happy about it. _"Why didn't he go into an apartment?"_ Then he saw Haruhi on the side of the building feet dangling over the edge trying to get a hold on the sill of her window. _"What is that idiot doing?!"_ He was about to leave his car when he saw Haruhi finally get a good grip on the sill, and climb through the window again. He sighed._ "Why would someone be so reckless?"_ he thought. He tapped the window divider of his car, signaling his driver to take him home. His head was throbbing, he pulled off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. _"What a long day."_ he sighed.

Haruhi was ready to sleep. She was overjoyed when she realized she couldn't hear any weird noises coming from her fathers room. She pulled off her baggy clothes and flopped down in her bed. She fell asleep almost immediately, glad this day was over.


	6. Scars

**A/N I apologize for the delay in updates, I won't bore you **

**with the details, but thank you for your patience.**

**I do not own anything. Thank you for reading. Please enjoy **

Morning came all too quickly for Haruhi as her alarm went off. She had placed it under her pillow to muffle some of the noise, but it still blared into her ear. She figured that being to school by six would give her dad enough time to do away with his boyfriend, and she could get some sleep in the club room. She shuffled to her uniform hanging on her door and began getting dressed. She instantly regretted leaving her jacket at home, because the brisk air was causing her hair to stand on end. Sighing she snuck out of her room brush her teeth and get some food. Being quiet in a silent house was harder than she remembered, but the snores coming from her fathers room allowed at least a little room for error. She downed one of the thermos' in the fridge, and a new dread took a hold of her. She had left the one from yesterday with her bag. If someone had found it, her life would be over. Panicked she grabbed her lunch stuffing it in a reused grocery bag and ran out of the house. Haruhi was never one known for her speed, but she made it to school in record time. Standing in front of the club room door, she grabbed her knees and tried to calm her breathing. _"I'm never running again"_ she groaned to herself. She allowed herself into the room, but didn't bother turning on the lights. Happy it was so quiet, she allowed her hopes to rise that no one had seen her things. She made her way to the dressing rooms and found everything the way she had left it. A small smile graced her lips. _"I am a fool, but right now I'm the happiest fool alive."_ she thought to herself. She packed her things back into her now dry bag, and took the empty thermos to the kitchen area where she thoroughly cleaned it and hid it in the back of one of the cupboards. Feeling exhausted from her early morning run, she brought her things with her into the dressing room she had used the day before and laid down on the floor, using her bag as a pillow and her jacket as a blanket.

Mori and Hunni had arrived at the school around six as well for some sparring practice. They had seen a student running into the school, but didn't think anything of it, as there were many clubs that met in the early morning. Mori had noticed a slight knot in his stomach form, but he pushed it aside because Hunni was right next to him.

"Mitskuni." he said, looking to his cousin. Hunni looked up and nodded. He was used to these warnings. He had felt it too, something was amiss, but he wasn't sure what either. They made their way into the dojo, both had a feeling this would be a short practice. In the host clubs haste, they never discussed when Haruhi would actually show up at school. What if the boy was early like them? Shaking his head, Hunni gave a small smile to his cousin._ "Would everyday be as interesting as yesterday?_" he asked himself.

After some time, the hosts all began to show up in the club room. Tamaki beating everyone, excitement radiating from him, to reveal the plan to the newest host. The twins followed in shortly after, hoping to walk their toy to class. Hunni and Mori had finished up practice and made their way to the club room, but stopped when all the hosts gave them confused looks.

"Where's Haruhi?" the twins asked in sync, nervous about the response.

"We thought he slipped past us." Hunni replied looking around the club room. It was now seven, and if the other hosts were here they thought Haruhi might be too.

"You are supposed to be looking out for him!" Tamaki fumed.

"Stop making a fuss Tamaki." Kyoya said as he made his way into the club room. He was miserable. His lack of sleep seemed to be evident to everyone in the room, as they made a path for him. "Has anyone checked to see if he got his stuff? He left it here yesterday to dry." He said slumping down into his seat, taking a very large gulp of his coffee. All the other hosts looked to each other and then rushed to the back of the club room. Well, except Mori, who took a slow pace behind the rest. They noticed Haruhi's things were gone, and then went into a panic.

"Haruhi!" Tamaki shouted frantically looking around the club room, behind couches and curtains. The twins also joined in on the assault on the club room. With everyone shouting, it was hard for her to stay asleep. Mori heard grumbling coming from one of the dressing rooms and made his way over. He pulled the curtain back to see Haruhi sitting up and glaring. Hiding his smile at the disheveled appearance and half hearted attempt at a glare, Mori made his way into the dressing room.

"Why is everyone shouting?" Haruhi mumbled, still trying to wake up properly.

"Couldn't find you." He answered offering his hand to Haruhi so she could stand. Taking it, she slowly stood, stretching, trying to wake up her tired muscles. Running was definitely not something she would do ever again. She smiled to the older host and went to gather her things. He pat her head and left, informing the other hosts that he had found her. At this, once again the hosts rushed over to the dressing rooms only to stop short when Haruhi poked her head out. Her hair was sticking up everywhere and her uniform was messy. At this the twins and Hunni started laughing. She tried to glare, only to have them laugh even harder.

"You gave us quite the scare there," Hikaru started.

"Our little toy." Kaoru finished. Each coming to her sides. They grabbed her hands and pulled her out into the rest of the club room, releasing her once they were all in the meeting area. They were fussing about trying to make her hair lay flat again, smoothing it and her uniform out, causing Haruhi's cranky aura to grow darker. Kyoya looked up and saw a disheveled Haruhi in their mist and too had to stifle his laughter. The night before this boy seemed so hostile, but now, he was like a cat doused in water.

"Nice of you to join us Haruhi." he smirked at the irritation radiating off the brunette. Haruhi was obviously not one to be awoken rudely. Pushing his luck he added, "For making us search for you, I have to add another ten thousand yen to your debt." He pulled out his black book to hide his eyes as he watched the reaction meld Haruhi from harmless to deadly serious in a matter of seconds.

"I never asked to be found senpai." she seethed. The other hosts shrank away from her, unsure what to do. Not many stood up to Kyoya like that. And the shadow king looked as though this was amusing him.

"Now, now Haruhi, don't go climbing up a tree about this." he smirked again, at the now furious freshman. Haruhi didn't say another word, but her rage was flowing off her in waves. _"How dare this asshole."_ she thought. Sighing she grabbed her bag and started heading to the door.

"Haruhi..." Tamaki started, unsure if he should bother the new host. "Would you um.." he looked to the others for support, but no one was making eye contact, sighing he went to start again when Hunni cut him off.

"Would you like some cake!" Hunni shouted, running over to stop the brunette, grabbing her arm playfully and pulling her towards his table. "Takashi finds the best cakes for breakfast! Don't you Takashi?" he asked looking to his cousin. Mori nodded in response and made his way to the kitchen area. Haruhi however was trying very hard to shake her distaste for being drug around this morning. _"Did they learn nothing from yesterday?"_ she questioned her mind. Hunni smiled up at her as sweetly as he could, noticing the reluctance on Haruhi's features. "I promise it's the best cake!" he giggled. Plopping down into his favorite seat, he pulled Haruhi down with him.

"I don't think cake is a breakfast food, Hunni-senpai." Haruhi shakily said, wishing more than anything she hadn't fallen asleep in here.

"Of course it is Haru-chan! Cake is for feeling good, and what better way to feel good than eat cake in the morning!" he exclaimed clapping his hands together to make his point. Haruhi caught herself thinking that he truly did look like a child. She gave him a small smile, as Mori came back out with three slices of cake on a tray. She looked into his grey eyes and pleaded he not make her eat this. He registered what she was asking, and was surprised that the boy chose to plead silently, but he knew his cousin as well, and also knew there was no way he could help. He flicked his eyes to his cousin, who was busy making faces at a disintegrating Tamaki, for getting to Haruhi first, and then back to the person in question, his eyes were saying sorry, and Haruhi just sighed. She should've known there was no escape. Then she got a brilliant idea.

"Hunni-senpai, Mori-senpai, I already ate breakfast this morning." she said quickly, thinking she could get out if she caught them off guard she shot up from the couch and grabbed her things. "Maybe we could have..." She didn't get the finish her sentence, as Mori pushed a fork full of cake in her mouth. Her eyes went wide with surprise while Hunni giggled at his victory, and Mori smirked.

"No, no Haru-chan. You don't eat enough." Hunni mock scolded as he too took a bite. The rest of the club erupted into laughter at the surprise on Haruhi's face. She tried to glare, but again to no avail as she had frosting on her face.

"Oh Mommy! Isn't Haruhi just the cutest!?" Tamaki shouted, causing everyone to look over at the king, who was now shrinking in size yet again.

"Hey boss," asked Kaoru.

"Who's Mommy?" Hikaru continued the question. Both twins knew who he was referring to, heck everyone except maybe Haruhi knew, but it was still fun to watch as the shadow king visibly wilted, while the host king opened and closed his mouth like a fish.

"Well, um, you see." Tamaki started, sweat dripping from his face.

"Tamaki, you better not be referring to me again." Kyoya face palmed, angry that this fool still was calling him mommy after many long talks about it's inappropriateness.

"But Mommy..." Tamaki whined. "We're a family!"

"Then why am I mommy?" Kyoya bit back. Suddenly they all heard laughing and again were surprised to find Haruhi doubled over in a fit of giggles. Kyoya could feel himself going dark. "Something funny Haruhi?" He asked stalking his way over to Hunni's table.

"Hmmm? Oh not at all...Mommy." Haruhi answered fighting her giggles through her words. The twins instantly lept to Haruhi's side.

"Yea mommy, wasn't it your idea to take care of Haruhi?" Hikaru started.

"Mommy must take care of us, right senpai?" Kaoru finished, both snickering at how angry Kyoya seemed to be getting. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity they would not pass up. Kyoya, the Shadow King, fuming with what looked to be embarrassment. Kyoya stopped, he had to recollect himself. This boy was grating on his self control and that was something he could not allow. Sighing he turned to Tamaki, who took a few steps back.

"Don't call me Mommy again." He whispered to Tamaki through clenched teeth. Gulping Tamaki nodded furiously. This was something he did not want to repeat.

Haruhi on the other hand, took this chance to escape. Whilst the others were busy watching Kyoya crumble, she grabbed her things and began to slowly walk to the door at the back of the club room, cake uneaten, minus the bite forced on her. Mori noticed her disappearance but it was too late, and Haruhi ran out of the club room, the twins right on her heels. Sighing to his cousin, he shook his head. Hunni just smiled and hugged Usa-chan.

"It's alright Takashi, we'll give him more cake at lunch!" Hunni cheered, causing his cousin to smile softly. Mori looked back towards the doors the three freshman slipped out of, and then back to Kyoya and Tamaki. Shaking his head, he lifted his cousin to his shoulders and began their trek to class as well.

"Kyoya," Tamaki started as he walked towards the host club vice president. "How was the hospital?" he asked carefully. He knew how much Kyoya hated going there with his brothers. They always made his life hell, and if this morning was anything to go by, Kyoya had a rough night. Sighing Kyoya looked up to Tamaki and gave him a smile, half hearted, but still a smile all the same.

"It was just another day of hell." He stated nonchalantly. "But I did have an interesting ride home." Kyoya thought to himself, his smile becoming more genuine.

"Did something else happen? I don't think I've seen a genuine smile grace your face since I fell down the stairs at your house." Tamaki chuckled. To this Kyoya nodded.

"That was quite interesting." he laughed remembering it fondly. "The look on your face was not princely at all."

"Hey! I fell down a flight of stairs!" Tamaki laughed with his friend. "Well, whatever it is Kyoya, I'm glad you can smile sometimes." The blonde added, squeezing Kyoya's shoulder.

"Relax Tamaki, it's not like I had someone killed." He chuckled darkly. "Yet..." To this they both laughed and headed to class as well. Just happy that things were starting to get interesting around the club.

Classes were finally picking up for Haruhi, her notes delicately taken, causing a smirk to cross her face. Once again she could focus, and that feeling was highly satisfying. She could never get over the smell of lead on paper, chalk on a chalk board. It all made her feel as though her dreams were within reach. But with every satisfying mark against her paper there was an annoying tap on her shoulder. Sighing and rubbing her hand down her face, she turned to face her tormentors, the Hitachiin Twins. They snickered at her attempted glare, and held up their hands in fake surrender. She went back to her work but still had the persistent tapping and poking on her shoulders. Blocking as much out as she could, she made it through her first classes with minor bruises. She sighed and once again faced them.

"Was there something you needed?" she asked, her words dripping in irritation.

"Why ever.." Hikaru asked

"Would you ask that?" Kaoru asked. Sighing she pulled her emotions back in.

"Just curious." She said, noting their disappointment at her lack of emotion. Inwardly she cheered in victory, but her eyes must've betrayed her elation, because their cheshire smirks were back within moments.

"So Haruhi, we were wondering if you'd join us for lunch." Kaoru asked. This was unexpected, and the brunette began to panic. She couldn't eat lunch. She knew what would happen. She was lucky enough to have just had a taste of bile from this mornings fiasco, but now a full meal in front of prying eyes. How could she escape?

"Oh, I brought my own lunch today." She said, giving them a smile, and going to turn around just as Hikaru's face came within inches of her own. She jumped and that was all the older Hitachiin needed to know they would win this battle.

"I don't see a lunch." He said, his grin growing every second Haruhi didn't respond. "Hey Kaoru, I think our toy is lying to us. What should we do?" Hikaru feigned hurt, but if his smirk was anything to go by, this devil was just toying with his prey.

"Haruhi," his double breathed, tears threatening his eyes, "Why would you lie to us?" Haruhi bit her lip, she knew it was an act, but it was still affecting her.

Noticing her dilemma, Kaoru allowed his lips to quiver slightly. "I thought we were best friends?" And that was all it took. She sighed in defeat, _"I'll just have to sneak away before class or something._" Her inward thoughts caused her to be troubled. _What if she didn't have time? Why did she have to get close to someone? Why couldn't they ignore her like everyone else? Why couldn't she be mean to them?_ This last thought troubled her the most. _Why would she want to be mean to them?_ She knew in her heart that she wanted someone, anyone. She was lonely, and sad, but she knew if anyone got close she would lose so much. She lived this life for a reason. She just needed to reinforce it. Unable to come up with any explanations at the moment, she resigned herself to thinking how to reign herself in. She allowed her emotions to let someone close, and that was unacceptable. It must be hormones or something. Maybe. But her dad allowed others in? Her conflict was showing on her faces, as s series emotions crossed her eyes. The twins looked to each other, concern evident, but they promised the others to get Haruhi to eat with them. So with heavy hearts, they pulled Haruhi along with them. She seemed to snap out of her thoughts once the twins pulled her along, and she sighed.

"Sorry guys." She said quietly. "I didn't mean I didn't want to go with you, I'm just not used to all_ this_ yet." She said gesturing to them and herself. They nodded in agreement, and before she knew what was happening four arms closed around her, pulling her into a tight hug. She stopped breathing, and went stiff. The boys noticed this but they didn't want to let go of this boy, there was so much they needed to know.

"We're sorry too Haruhi." Kaoru breathed.

"We just can't help hugging you." Hikaru sighed, giving a slight squeeze. Haruhi wanted to trust them, wanted to relax, like she had with Hunni. _Why couldn't she with these boys?_ She questioned herself. Slowly, she felt herself take a breathe in, allowing the spicy scents of their cologne to help her relax into their hug. As soon as the twins noticed, they had to quickly come over their shock. Haruhi hugged them back, although hesitantly, Haruhi was letting them in. They both looked to each other and smiled warmly. They let go of Haruhi and grabbed her hands, walking towards the cafeteria. This time, without a fight from their new friend. As soon as they entered the cafeteria, everyone stopped and stared. They could hear whispers surrounding them as they made their way over to the host clubs table.

"It is true!" "There is a commoner host?"

Girls began talking causing quite the uproar, but one particular girl took in this sight and sneered in disgust. _"I'll fix this."_ Ayanakoji thought to herself, before storming out of the lunch room.

"Haruhiiiii!" an excited Tamaki yelled running up to the unsuspecting brunette. She jumped and quickly hid behind one of the twins making them laugh as Tamaki pulled to an abrupt stop before crumbling. The trio just walked past him, Haruhi casting looks behind her, feeling guilty but glad she didn't get pulled into another hug from the blonde.

"Hey Haru-chan!" Hunni bounced excitedly in his seat, as Mori held him in his place. He didn't want another person to cause Haruhi to hide. He felt bad for Tamaki, but in Haruhi's defense no one wanted that kind of hug. Mori gave her a small nod before returning back to his meal. Kyoya also gave a small nod, before going to collect the distraught blonde a few feet away.

"Hey everyone." Haruhi said quietly taking a seat at the end of the table away from the rest. The twins unwilling to let her get too far away sat on the other side of her, as the others took seats close to her as well. Tamaki right next to her, much to her dismay. He was excitedly asking her how her classes were going and asking what she was going to eat, she sighed, and just went with whatever the twins were getting. They made their way to the line, and back again without much incident, minus the fangirls swooning.

"It seems adding a commoner to the club has boosted our appeal." Kyoya remarked off handedly. "They seem to see it as an act of compassion. Good call Tamaki." At this the host king smiled his prize winning smile.

"Well of course. We can't forsake him because he's a commoner after all." he exclaimed, leaving Haruhi to face palm at how ridiculous she found all this to be. Lunch seemed to go by slower and slower. Haruhi kept pushing her food around on her plate, willing it away, but having to take small bites here and there, as all the hosts were watching with unusual interest. Sighing she placed her fork down.

"Do you not like your lunch Haruhi?" The twins asked in unison.

"Hmm? Oh, no it's not that. I'm just not that hungry is all." she tried to give them a smile, but failed miserably once her stomach made itself known. _"Why now of all times?_" she chastised herself.

"Really?" The twins asked in unison again, attempting to keep the giggles in. Haruhi placed her forehead against the table and sighed.

"There's no fooling you guys is there?" she questioned, looking up at the plate of food she wanted to escape from. Kyoya took this opportunity to hand her her fork again.

"It's no use, you aren't leaving until you finish at least half." He gave her a small smile, as she took the fork quite aggressively from him.

"What does it matter to you guys anyways? I eat plenty." she sighed, stabbing at the potatoes that were mocking her. The rest of the hosts groaned.

"Haruhi, look how malnourished you look!" Tamaki exclaimed pulling her sleeve up. He instantly dropped her arm at the sight of another scar. She quickly stood, panicking, and fell over her own seat. The other hosts hadn't seen the scar, but had seen how boney her arm was. Thinking this was why Tamaki freaked, they tried to pull Haruhi back up only to have her pull away.

"I'm fine." She said through gritted teeth. "Please, excuse me." She grabbed her bag and left the lunch room quickly. Mori went to retrieve her, when Hunni stopped him. He looked down to his cousin and followed his gaze to Tamaki, who had now paled.

"What's the matter Tama-chan? I thought you knew Haru-chan needed to eat more, that's why we did this?" Hunni questioned the boy, and violet eyes met his. They shifted to the twins, who had a confused expression as well.

"I thought you said his scar was on his leg?" He choked out, trying to get the image of the raised purple skin out of his mind. To this the twins took off after Haruhi._ Did he have another one?_ Hikaru thought.

"Tamaki, your reaction scared him off." Kyoya said stiffly. He too was concerned about this new discovery, and was more than upset that nothing had been mentioned the previous day when he questioned Haruhi about it. The hosts took their trays to the disposal and each returned to their respective classes.

Haruhi went up to the second year restrooms again. She locked herself in one of the stalls, and purged everything from her short lunch. She hated how much it hurt, and was angry that the others had forced it on her. What were they thinking? Sighing she pulled out her thermos and once again relished in its contents. She pulled her breathing back under control and centered herself. She had another problem she now had to deal with. She rolled up her sleeve like Tamaki had and caught sight of a deep scar. She could vividly remember the bone breaking through the skin repeatedly as that "man" and his friends stomped on her arms. She felt tears stinging her eyes, and couldn't help the muffled sob trying to break through. She tried to swallow it down, but the images were as fresh as if they had happened yesterday. She could hear pounding footsteps getting closer, and was able to bring herself back to Earth. No one had to know. Nobody could know. She would have to keep herself better guarded. As she made her way over to the sink, two red heads popped their heads into the restroom.

"Finally!" Hikaru shouted.

"We almost couldn't find you Haruhi!" Kaoru sighed. He was holding his side, and looked back to his brother, whose gaze was troubled. They took in the sight of their new friend, and couldn't help but sulk. _What is he not telling us?_ Kaoru asked himself.

"Sorry guys." Haruhi mumbled, trying to give them a weak smile. The twins were about to push for answers when the warning bell rang. Hikaru went to speak when she cut him off, knowing what was to come. "Do you guys mind if we talk about this later?" she asked hesitantly. The twins nodded, though not happy, they knew they shouldn't press it. As they made their way to class, the trio was silent. Each lost in their own thoughts, Haruhi trying to come up with a decent excuse out of this, and cursing Tamaki for being nosy, and the twins trying to come up with some way to get Haruhi to open up just a little. Kaoru could see the gears in his brothers brain working in overdrive and sighed. He felt frustrated with Haruhi, and that made him feel guilty. What was it about this odd boy that made the two of them concerned for anyone else? He grabbed his brothers hand in silent understanding, as they entered the classroom waiting on the teacher to drone on. Hikaru gave his brothers hand a small squeeze, trying to reassure Kaoru things would be ok, but he couldn't help but pass a glance to Haruhi, as she slumped into her seat.

As if the day couldn't get worse, as soon as Haruhi stepped foot into the club room, she was informed she had a new guest. None other than Tamaki's favorite, Princess Ayanakoji. Haruhi disguised her distrust for the situation with nerves of being a new host, and sat with Ayanakoji, glad that the table was near some of the other hosts in case something happened. Much to her dismay, the girl before her didn't seem bother with location and began spouted her venomous words again.

"It seems as though you haven't learned your place, commoner. They say yesterday you had poor Tamaki digging in that nasty fountain for your bag. You do realize he is above you, a blue blood." she spit. Haruhi just sighed. _What is with this girl?_ She thought. She watched as Ayanakoji took a sip of her tea, and returned to glaring daggers at Haruhi. "You know, once the novelty wears off, they'll throw you away." She gave a satisfied smile to the look of defeat Haruhi had. It's true, she thought this too. Hell, if they knew anything about her, the novelty would've never been there to begin with. She met Ayanakoji's gaze and finally saw what she was looking for. She saw the hate, disgust, and anguish in her eyes, and for a brief moment felt pity for her. Until she opened her mouth to speak again. "You will only have them doting on you for so long, and once it's over, I'll be there to remind you, commoner." She practically sang to Haruhi, at this Haruhi had had enough.

"What is this, jealousy?" She asked. She could've bathed in the look of surprise Ayanakoji had on her face. A small smirk surfaced on her face, until Ayanakoji's eyes darkened. She reached across the table and grabbed her by her tie, pulling her over the table and bringing the table with it. Haruhi barely registered what had happened when she heard the grotesque sound of her wrist breaking, to stop her fall. With both arms on either side of the girl in front of her, Haruhi was trying her best not to scream out in pain. Her face twisted, and she squeezed her eyes shut. She heard Ayanakoji screaming, and the next thing she knew, water was being poured over the two of them. She looked up to see the twins holding pitchers at their sides.

"Help me Tamaki, Haruhi attacked me! He's a monster!" Ayanakoji cried into Tamaki's arms as he helped her up from the floor. Haruhi turned her gaze to the king, his violet eyes questioning if she was ok, but quickly turning back to his "Princess".

"You know, you are a very lovely girl." He cooed, brushing her hair from her face. "But a pretty face can only take you so far, and I'm afraid you don't have enough class to be a customer of this club." As soon as the words left his lips, the auburn haired girl looked as though she'd been slapped in the face. She pulled away from Tamaki slightly.

"How could you say that Tamaki? This.. This commoner attacked me!" She yelled, pointing menacingly at Haruhi.

"You know, I bet you're the one who threw his bag in the fountain as well." Tamaki mused as he took a step closer to the girl.

"You don't know that. You don't have proof!" She bellowed, her face flushing red with anger. "Why are you trusting this commoner over me? You all saw this monster attack me!"

"Well my dear, it's simple, I know Haruhi is not that type of person." Tamaki said simply. "Please leave the host club." He gave her a smile, but it was full of malice.

"Tamaki you idiot!" She yelled as she ran out of the club room. Tamaki didn't pay her any mind though, he went to help Haruhi up, only to stop once she winced.

"Haruhi were you hurt?" he asked, reaching again for her right wrist. She instead gave him her left hand and pulled herself up.

"It's nothing senpai, I think I just landed wrong. It should be fine in the morning." she sighed. She knew she heard a bone break, but you can't explain miraculous healing of bones without someone knowing what it is. She'd have to pass it off as a sprain, or bruise. Pain radiated up her arm once again and she bit the inside of her lip to choke it down. She started to walk away when Kyoya came up to her with a bag.

"Here, this is the only uniform we have, I apologize but, think of it like cosplay." he stated, pushing his glasses up his nose. He took a step back and watched in amusement as Haruhi looked in the bag and immediately tried to give it back.

"Sorry Kyoya-senpai, can't I just go home?" she asked, holding the offending outfit away from her. Tamaki came up and looked in the bag as well.

"Oh Haruhi! You must try it on! I bet you look cute like a girl!" Tamaki squealed seeing the bright yellow of the girls uniform. Haruhi could feel her frustration getting the best of her and she just stalked off with the bag.

"I'm not wearing a dress." She grumbled, going into the dressing area. Sighing she pulled off her jacket. She should've known the water had soaked through. She knew she could sit here for a bit while it dried in her underwear, but could she really risk it? Sighing again, she decided it was her best choice, she had after all worn a tank top underneath her shirt, and she was still wearing boxer briefs. Stripping down, she hid herself in the corner of the dressing room, hoping that the boys would just leave her alone. She glanced down at her wrist and saw the inflammation. _Shit_ she thought. She leaned her head against the back wall and closed her eyes. _How is it I keep fucking up?_ she questioned. She heard the curtain move, and looked over to see Tamaki poke his head in. He spotted her and smiled.

"Haruhi I brought you towels!" He said excitedly, rushing in to give them to her. She stood and was happy to receive them as if they were fluffy clouds. She wanted to comment on him being a rich bastard, but was stopped when she saw him staring at her shoulder. At first she was frightened that he'd seen the wrap she had underneath her tank top, but then she caught sight of yet another grisly scar. She looked back to her senpai to see he was pale, almost like he was getting sick. She sighed and rubbed one of the towels through her hair and then laid it over her shoulder, stopping his gaping. He made eye contact with Haruhi, and opened his mouth to speak a few times, but she just put her hand up to stop him.

"It's nothing senpai."

"How could _that_ be nothing Haruhi?" He shouted. She cursed inwardly as she heard the others coming closer.

"It's something that happened a long time ago, just drop it." She hissed, pulling the towel tighter.

"Haruhi," he whispered, covering his mouth with his hand. Then as if he had a sudden revelation he shouted "How many?" Startled Haruhi looked at him bewildered. "How many are there?!" He said louder, taking a step closer. She jumped from his forcefulness, and the others came in as well. They looked between the two hosts, and Hikaru stepped forward.

"Boss, what are you doing?" He asked, treading carefully, as Tamaki looked as though he might burst.

"He has more!" He shouted, pointing an accusatory finger to Haruhi. The others looked to Haruhi for an explanation, but she looked as though she might be trying to shrink, or disappear. Frustrated Tamaki walked over and ripped the towel from her shoulders, pointing to the blatant scar leading from her shoulder blade, past her collarbone, and down into her top. She reached to grab the towel back only to have Hikaru grab her arm, accidentally squeezing her broken wrist. Her eyes rolled back in pain, and she tried to breathe regularly.

"How many more of these are there Haru?" Hikaru asked, just as angry as Tamaki. He squeezed tighter on her wrist when she tried to break free, only to pull it at a weird angle. Before anyone knew what was happening Mori had pulled Haruhi from Hikaru's grasp and against his chest out of their reach. Embarrassment covered her face as she tried to get down, while Hikaru and Tamaki shouted in outrage. Mori simply placed his hand up and stated, "Haruhi's hurt." The others got quiet, not believing him until he held up the right hand that Hikaru had been squeezing not moments ago. Everyone went silent and Hikaru felt guilt rush over him.

"Haruhi.." he gasped out, "I didn't know, I'm so sorry." He got closer only to have Mori shift away. It was odd that he was protecting this boy from the others but he recognized the hurt on his face when he first came in. Hunni looked to his cousin in disbelief, he'd never seen him protect anyone but him. He looked over at the trembling Haruhi and sighed. He tugged on his cousin's shirt and pointed to Haruhi. Mori noticed the distress he was putting Haruhi under, and he wanted to put him down, but everything in him told him not to. He shook his head, and again confused Hunni.

"Haru-chan, we're just worried about you, kay?" Hunni stated, trying to figure out the best way out of this mess. Kyoya was off to the side, furious. "_Fell out of a tree huh?_" he thought. This only made his resolve firmer. _"I will find out everything."_ His glasses flashed dangerously and he took over the conversation.

"Haruhi, I agree with Tamaki, and wish to know just how many scars you are hiding." He said simply, but the menacing look behind his glasses said there would be hell to pay without an answer. She looked around the room, all eyes begging her to just be honest. _"What have I gotten myself into?_" she asked herself. Sighing in defeat she looked at the ground.

"Six." She said blankly. "They aren't from a tree accident Kyoya-senpai, but they aren't something I wish to talk about right now." She looked up and saw their eyes begging for more, but she just shook her head. Kyoya, glad to have a half truth went to speak but Kaoru spoke first.

"How can you expect us to trust you when you lie to us?" He accused. He was angry. Sure they only just met, but so far what truths were there? He and his brother had genuine concern, and Haruhi just hid everything. Hikaru was taken aback that his twin was so harsh, but he too felt hurt. They looked to Haruhi, and she shook her head again.

"How much am I supposed to tell you before you throw me away?" She bit back. At this Mori finally set her down. She began to struggle to put on her wet clothes, while the hosts remained quiet._ "Is that really what Haruhi thinks?"_ They all thought, baffled by this idea.

"You know, this isn't the first time I tried to trust people, it isn't the first time I had friends that called me _family_, and it won't be the first time I get thrown away, so if you can't give me some time to get used to that, to trust you, then I guess you could say we weren't meant to be friends were we?" She asked bitterly. She looked up to Kaoru, who looked like he had been hit, his brother next to him, shaking with what could be confused as rage, or sympathy, but she didn't want to find out. Hunni had tears in his eyes, and Mori's eyes were clouded with confusion. Tamaki tried to stop Haruhi as she left but she shrugged him off. "I guess I'll see you guys at club tomorrow." She left the enclosure and made her way out. _"They really know how to make you feel like an asshole."_ She thought to herself.


	7. We All Have Our Demons

**I do not own anything.**

**Thank you for reading. Please enjoy**

The music room was quiet once she left. Each of the boys confused as to what had just happened.

"Ugh! That guy!" Hikaru shouted throwing his hands up in defeat. His brother just watched him, his own anger building up in the pit of his stomach. He followed his brother out into the empty music room. Silently he tried to process through what Haruhi had said. _"How much am I supposed to tell you before you throw me away?"_ Haruhi's words just echoed through his head as he tried to think of a response to what she told them.

Just as the twins, Kyoya and Tamaki were upset. Kyoya pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Tch." Tamaki not one to be outdone, also sputtered nonsense, before storming out.

"Kyoya, let's go." He said, his tone leaving no room for argument. Kyoya just sighed. He had formulated a plan to follow Haruhi and make him explain himself, but he forgot he was Tamaki's ride home. Anger bubbled up once again in the back of his throat, and he just put on his "shadow king" smile following Tamaki out to his car.

"Takashi.." Hunni whispered, approaching his cousin, but not sure what to do. Hunni wanted to cry, but mostly out of frustration, and hurt. How could someone think things like that? His cousin looked down to him with a ghost of a smile, and pat his head.

"Let's go." He said, no emotion in his voice. Hunni climbed up on his shoulders, and clung tightly.

"Should we follow him?" Hunni asked, his voice uncertain.

"No. Give him time." Mori responded, deep in thought himself. Hunni just clung to his cousin tighter in acknowledgment. "He's scared right now." Mori stated, trying to ease his cousin's heart.

"But what is he so scared of?" Hunni questioned. To this Mori sighed and slipped his cousin from his shoulders so he could look at him.

"If this happened before, it could hurt that we all got so upset." Mori said simply. "Everyone has their demons." He ended, handing Hunni Usa-chan gently, making Hunni think back to his own past. He nodded his head, understanding what Mori was trying to say. They too left the music room, though a little more understanding than the rest.

Haruhi walked as fast as she could, but found her clothing uncomfortable in the cold air. She groaned in frustration. "How dare they act like I owe them." She muttered to herself. She tugged her bag tighter to her shoulder, and stopped. She sighed again. "_This is why it's better no one gets close. This is why I'm always alone._" Her thoughts frightened her. She was so tired of being alone. _"tch What a stupid dream"_ she muttered again, walking at a much slower pace this time.

She was cold and tired once she got home. She angrily tossed her things down in her room and quickly stripped herself of all of her clothing. Gathering them up in her arms, she caught sight of herself in the long mirror attached to her closet. She saw the large, long scar across her collarbone and dropped her clothing. She walked closer to the mirror, her eyes burning with the threat of tears as she traced it. She looked over her body, down past her chest to her ribs just under the left of her breast. She traced her fingers gingerly over the bubbled up scar she usually keeps hidden, she spent weeks in pain as her ribs healed, after they had torn through her skin, broken and unforgiving. A tear slipped from her eye as she followed the scar to the smooth skin just above her navel, dropping her gaze once again to her hip. Another deep scar, looking worse with how thin she was, as it stretched over her hip to her back. She turned around following the path of the scar to see another grisly cut of skin, mangled on her back where her ribs on the right side of her body had ripped through all the way to her spine. She choked on air as she touched it, willing it away, as the memories of pain flood over her. She looked at her leg, where the bone broke through, leaving a long sharp scar to mock her. _"At least I can walk steady again"_ she thought to herself darkly. She caught a glimpse of her face in the mirror, and hated the person before her. The hollow brown eyes, shadowed by deep circles, her teeth chattering against her blue lips. _"I really must be cold."_ She sighed, finally catching a glimpse of her arm, the scar the Tamaki had seen. Six. Six haunting memories that would forever follow her. She dressed herself in baggy clothing, hiding what was left of her ever-living nightmare, and grabbed her wet clothing slamming it into the washer. Slumping to her bed, she sobbed. _"They probably freaked out because I look like a monster._" She cried herself to sleep, not bothering to clean up the rest of the mess she made.

"Hikaru" Kaoru breathed, trying to calm his brother down. They arrived home, and his brother let loose, throwing everything in sight. He was furious still, and he wasn't exactly sure why, which made it worse. His brother made his way over to him and clung to his back, resting his forehead against the back of Hikaru's neck."You don't need to be so angry, maybe he just needs some time." He tried to reason, not really convincing himself either.

"He yelled at you! He said he couldn't trust us! Who does that commoner think he is?" his frustration radiated from him, but his wild movements had ceased the minute he felt his brothers calming presence. He turned in Kaoru's arms and hugged him back, resting his chin on his brothers shoulder.

"He reminds me of us." Kaoru whispered. His brother pulled him back to look in his eyes, and saw all the sadness that they too had felt, before Tamaki roped them into the host club. "He's just scared Hikaru." Kaoru once again whispered, his words coming out, without really thinking. In his brain he felt like chastising himself for not understanding more. _"We call him our toy, what is he supposed to think?"_ he thought. Chancing a look into his brother's eyes, he could see the gears churning. Hikaru was begining to understand too. But that didn't mean he had to admit it, or stop being mad.

"He still shouldn't have yelled like that, have freaked out like that! Ugh! He's so frustrating!" He pushed away from his brother still not wanting to let Haruhi off that easy. He sighed and drug a hand down his face. Kaoru noticed his brother's inner battle and decided to help it along. He was the one who started this all anyways, well, technically Tamaki, but he did call Haruhi a liar.

"We always had each other, he only has himself. Remember how lonely we were? Think about not having me with you?" Kaoru let his words reach out to his brother with all the longing he had in himself. He too was upset and discouraged, but could he blame someone for trying to deal with everything when you had no one to begin with? He looked up to his brother again to see tears in Hikaru's eyes.

"Don't ever say that!" Hikaru spat, "You will always have me!" To this Kaoru let out an involuntary chuckle and sighed.

"I just said think about it because that's probably how Haruhi feels." He shook his head for having to clarify, before he could explain anymore to his brother, Hikaru had practically tackled him into a bear hug.

"I would be so lonely without you." Hikaru sighed, squeezing his brother tighter. Kaoru hugged him tightly back, allowing all the lonely memories to dissipate in the space between them.

_"We all have our demons."_ They both thought.

Kyoya still had yet to say a word. Tamaki had drug him into his home and they were both sitting in silence. "_A silent Tamaki is a scary one._" Kyoya thought, trying to grasp the situation at hand. Haruhi openly admitted to lying to his face, and that angered him. No one lied to an Ootori and got away with it. He would find out everything this boy had to hide, even if it killed him. He then thought of Haruhi's words, and let out a groan of exhaustion. He looked up to his polar opposite and sighed. "Tamaki, why am I here?" He questioned the blonde, an edge to his words. Tamaki looked up to him as if he just noticed he was there. The surprise Kyoya saw in the boys eyes made him want to jump up and strangle him.

"I'm not sure." Tamaki admitted. Looking away yet again, almost as if someone kicked his puppy.

"If this is about Haruhi, I don't know what you want me to say." Kyoya stated coldly, looking over the boy, noting the visible deflation.

"Kyoyaaaa." Tamaki whined. "Why does he act like that?"

"Tamaki, you are acting like a child." Kyoya stated as he stood. He wounded himself with his words, but shook it off. At least he wasn't openly whining about it. Pushing his glasses up again to hide his expression he continued, "Besides, you just met the boy, and he hasn't liked you since he met you." Kyoya smirked at the look of despair that fell over Tamaki's handsome features.

"But, but" Tamaki blubbered, "How can someone not like me! I'm the epitome of perfection!" Tamaki wailed, striking a ridiculous pose, with a pout on his face. "I thought that things were getting better between me and Haruhi, I mean I rescued him from his bully! I should be his hero now or something!" Tamaki continued. Kyoya put his hand to his temple and sighed. _"How is this idiot my best friend?"_ He thought angrily, clenching his jaw tightly.

"Tamaki, I warned you about giving people space." He glared toward the blonde, but Tamaki just looked at him like he'd grown another head.

"But I HAVE!" He screeched, bewildered that his best friend thought otherwise. "I stopped hugging him didn't I?" He reasoned. To this Kyoya swatted him on the head. Horrified the blonde went to his corner of woe.

"Listen to me, Tamaki." Kyoya spoke, trying to keep his voice even, though the anger was surging through his body. Tamaki glanced up at Kyoya with big puppy dog eyes.

"You hit me!" He sobbed, pointing an accusatory finger at Kyoya.

"Tamaki!" He shouted, quieting the blonde to whimpers. He approached slowly, catching the glare of the setting sun on his glasses. "Haruhi seems to have had something happen to him. You seem to have an odd ability to catch the boy in his unawares." He stopped himself and thought over what he had said, and a demonic smirk crossed his face in realization. "You just have to take your time, but keep trying. Just like with the twins." He finished, he brain working in overtime. It was true Tamaki seemed to be the only one to get close enough to actually make Haruhi's defenses crumble. If he could use this to his advantage he might learn more about this boy. He gave Tamaki his host smile, and offered him a hand to get up. Tamaki's eyes sparkled with delight at the statement, and looked as if he could grow ears and a tail, from happiness.

"You're brilliant Kyoya! I forgot all the trouble I had with the twins! I just have to be persistent!" Tamaki exclaimed slamming his fist down on his hand, before taking Kyoya's to stand up. Kyoya just offered a sly smile, that went over Tamaki's head. _Ootori's always get their way._ Not wanting to lose his focus, Kyoya said his goodbyes to his friend. Tamaki remained elated until Kyoya left and then sighed. He slumped back down into his seat, not wanting to think about the day. Suddenly a maid knocked on the door. "Come in." He beckoned, casting the maid a smile, as she walked over with a telephone.

"Master Tamaki, your father." She spoke, almost a whisper. She knew how things were with her master and his family. She felt sorry for him, but could do nothing. Again he gave her a smile, this time softer, as he understood. He took the phone and dismissed her, before answering.

"Father." He greeted trying to hold a cheery tone.

"Tamaki," his father spoke, he didn't hold a harshness in his voice, but there was still restraint. This bothered Tamaki more than harsh words, but he would never speak it. "I am calling you to inform you about a dinner we were having at the main house. Your grandmother has made it clear you not be there." He spoke firm, trying to convey the seriousness of the situation. Tamaki sighed, his smile left his face and he agreed blandly, immediately hanging up the phone. He handed it to the maid that was waiting just outside the door, and then locked it abruptly to be left to himself. He looked out the window. The pinks and purples of the sky mixing off in the distance. A small, smile appeared on his face but it held no happiness. He thought back to Haruhi, and remembered what she had said. There were many things in his life he didn't wish to discuss either. _"We all have our demons."_ He sighed, walking over to his piano, and playing whatever came to his mind.

Kyoya was content with his plan, his thoughts trying to combine and get a strategy in place. If he could just get a little bit of information, he felt he could be sated. His ride home was quiet, minus the tap of his foot against the door. Haruhi was something that bothered him. There were so many sides that he had seen already, and so many mysteries hiding behind those large chocolate eyes. He tilted his head back against his seat and tried to think through the day. Part of him was beginning to feel guilt, over using his best friend to gain information, but he swiftly shook that off. _"Ootori's don't feel guilty."_ He told himself. He found himself laughing at that thought. "_If we don't feel anything, how do we gain anything?_" His mind argued. He shook his head, he must be feeling tired to argue with himself. He felt himself doing that these past few days and it upset him. Why had some common boy evoked self reflection? He scoffed. Looking out the window he saw the hues of the sky shifting to night. His smirk resurfaced and again he found himself resting his head on the seat, staring at the ceiling. He tried again to think of the days that had passed. The emotions that coursed through him felt exhausting but exhilarating. Had he really been missing that much? Amusement, confusion, anger. All emotions Haruhi evoked in him, for no reason other than an unending curiosity eating him from the inside. It nagged at him that for once, he didn't have the answers already, that he didn't have the skill to defuse the bomb that was Haruhi. He watched the boy snap multiple times, and yet, he had no idea how to deal with it. Just watching the interactions, waiting for the inevitable._ "Maybe I shouldn't have sent Tamaki after him."_ He thought, already regretting the plan he had started to set in motion. "But...it could be interesting." He sighed. He must be a sadist he thought. His mind mulling over the endless possibilities. He had finally arrived home, and rushed in to avoid his family. But it wasn't enough. His father caught sight of him as he tried to launch himself up the stairs.

"Kyoya." His father's voice rumbled through the stairway. Kyoya turned slightly at his father's acknowledgement, and the look his father had in his eye made him turn down the steps within an arms reach of the man. He bowed respectfully to him, and as he came back up from the bow, his saw the look of disgust on his fathers face. He fought the urge to tremble in his presence. He knew that look, someone had fucked up, and he had now found himself in the cross fire. His father looked him over, and asked, "Why are you getting home so late?" His tone was cold enough to freeze you on the spot, but Kyoya, not one to back down, only pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Club went late today, and I escorted Tamaki Suoh home." He stated, withholding any emotion. His mask in place, he held his fathers gaze. His fathers eyes bored into his, and again he fought the urge to run away.

"Next time you are late, I expect you to greet me properly." His father broke his gaze briefly, and from the corner of his eye, caught Kyoya breathing out slightly. The boy had been holding his breath. A smirk appeared on his face, before twisting into a scowl. "It's a shame you continue to disappoint me." His fathers words were like venom. Kyoya just stood emotionless in front of him, willing every part of his body to not move. "By the way," His father breathed out slowly, taking a step closer to his son. "A host club?" he questioned, his arms pulled tightly behind his back. He noticed the widening of Kyoya's eyes, and knew he was correct. "I never thought I would have a son more pathetic." He spit, his hand making sharp contact with Kyoya's face. Kyoya's glasses fell from his face clattering across the floor. He pulled himself back together, trying to regain his composure.

"It is a way to meet future clients for all of the members involved." Kyoya stated, a practiced line he kept telling himself, ever since Tamaki came up with the ridiculous idea. His words fell on deaf ears as his fathers lips pulled into a tight line.

"You expect me to believe some line like that?" He asked, his words piercing into Kyoya. "You disappoint me again." He stated coldly before walking away. Kyoya went to pick his glasses from the floor, kneeling for just a moment to compose himself. _"At least it was just a slap."_ He thought. His face stung, his eyes threatening to betray tears. Silently he made his way up to his room. Locking himself in, he could almost hear Haruhi's words echoing in his brain. He did not want anyone to know about this. Tamaki only knew because of a moment of weakness. There could be no weakness, but he could admit,_ "We all have our demons." _

Haruhi awoke late the next morning. Her face hurt from crying, so she rubbed it roughly to try to get some sort of feeling to right wrist throbbed, but she noticed that the bone had reset itself. Now it just felt like a bad sprain. This brought relief to her features. At least she'd be able to use her hand. She thought for sure that it would take much longer to heal. She looked at the clock and inwardly sighed, it was past eleven. She pulled herself out of the bed and trembled when her feet touched the cold floor. She wondered how mad her father would be when he noticed she was home. She tip toed out of her room, making sure to make no sound. She only stopped when she got to his room and saw he wasn't there. "Oh." She sighed. "Guess he didn't come home." She went to the bathroom and cleaned herself up quickly. She still had some time to get out of the house before he got home anyways, might as well keep him in the dark. She threw her clothes from yesterday in the dryer. Even if she had woken up on time, she wouldn't have had a dry uniform. "It's like the universe is telling me to not go to school." She laughed to herself. With everything taken care of, and a quick breakfast, she threw on some more baggy clothes and headed out. This time she tried to hide her face, she didn't want another run in with Kyoya. She pulled up her hood, wearing her thick glasses, and took off toward the heart of the city.

The boys weren't surprised when Haruhi never showed. It was now lunch and still no sign of the boy they chased off yesterday. They had gathered at their usual table and spoke of the usual things, but there was something missing. Kyoya left lunch first, frustrated that yet again this boy was occupying his mind. The twins left shortly after, but they had yet to separate hands, which caused the fangirls to lose their shit, not that the twins were paying attention. They just didn't want to be alone today. Tamaki, seeing the fangirls fainting, went to them seeking some sort of relief from his ever growing anxiety. This left Hunni and Mori, both silently watching. They had seen the way the others were acting and it hit home that maybe they all needed this strange boy, even if he hadn't been there that long. Hunni pushed his cake away, not even taking a bite, and looked to his cousin.

"Ne Takashi, I wonder where Haru-chan is?" Hunni placed his arms on the table and leaned his chin against them. Mori looked down to his cousin, his own concern evident in the depths of his steel orbs, but he wouldn't voice it. He pat his cousin on the head and stood up putting his cousin on his shoulders. They too left the lunch room and headed to class.

The day dragged on. It was as if the clocks were mocking the hosts. Tamaki impatiently strummed on his desk, annoying Kyoya to the point where he broke _two_ pencils. Kaoru and Hikaru had pushed their desks together and lazily drew in their notebooks, not really paying attention to the teacher droning on. Mori and Hunni found themselves unable to relax, Hunni constantly checking the clock tower, while Mori tugged at his collar every few minutes. They all found themselves laying about in the club room. They had cancelled activities, using yesterdays incident with Ayanakoji as an excuse. The girls were disappointed, but the blame was passed off to the disgruntled princess, giving the hosts some breathing room. The only sounds you could hear were of Kyoya tapping away at his laptop, the twins playing their gameboys, and the occasional scrape of a fork on a plate from Hunni eating his cakes. Sighing Tamaki stood up and approached the shadow king cautiously.

"Hey Kyoya," He asked standing directly across from him. Kyoya looked up from his laptop, eyeing the boy warily. Tamaki looked Kyoya in the eye, his depths showing every ounce of seriousness in his request. "Find him." After he said that, he tapped his knuckles against the desk and walked out from the club room. Kyoya smirked at the kings request. _"What does that idiot think I've been doing this whole time?"_ He thought. He'd already sent someone to Haruhi's house, but his men confirmed no one was present. He tried to access the schools files to get the phone number to her apartment, but found it rather difficult. Sighing and rubbing his forehead he decided to get some tea. Closing his laptop, he walked to the kitchen. The twins had heard the kings request, and smirked. Leave it to Tamaki to snap first. Satisfied for now, they gathered their things and left as well. Hunni eyed the scene wearily.

"They don't know the meaning of boundaries." Hunni remarked darkly. He was curious as well, but to hunt the poor boy down after what happened yesterday just seemed too much. The loli shota sighed in dismay. His cousin looked at him, a smirk on his face. He too felt like they needed to leave the situation alone.

"I have an idea." Mori stated before standing. He waited for Kyoya to come back out with his tea, before walking casually towards him, Kyoya nodded to him, thinking he was going for a refreshment as well, but he hadn't expected Hunni to come bounding around the tall boy and knocking into him, causing him to spill his tea all over his laptop. Anger rushed to Kyoya's face. He turned on the two cousins, fury plainly written on his face. Hunni just looked at his feet innocently, shuffling from on to the other, while Mori tried hard to hide his smirk. "Mitskuni." He spoke with a hint of discipline. He looked to his cousin and shook his head, though in his eyes, Hunni saw the amusement and mischief.

"Sorry Takashi, Kyo-chan. I just got excited." Kyoya just sighed.

"Hopefully some of the files on there were backed up. Hunni-senpai, I know today has been odd, but please be careful." His shadow king aura shrouded around them, but he kept his words tactful. No need to get his ass kicked while he was at it. He pulled out his cell phone to call for a new laptop, but before the words left his mouth, Hunni had latched onto him with a hug causing the boy to drop his phone, Mori stepped forward to pull Hunni from the unsuspecting boy and "_accidentally_" stepped on his phone, snapping it in two. Kyoya felt his face flush in frustration, but quickly pulled himself together clearing his throat loudly. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Is there something you want to say?" he questioned, his voice chilling, but not enough to keep the two seniors fearful. Hunni smirked up at Kyoya.

"What ever do you mean Kyo-chan?" He asked, his eyes shining. Mori looked to Kyoya, a small smirk lifting the corners of his lips. Kyoya sighed, and grabbed up his laptop, shaking it slightly in dismay. "He has until tomorrow." Kyoya stated roughly, grabbing his things and storming out of the room. Satisfied for now the smaller boy spun around to his cousin.

"He forgot he needs a ride home." He stated cheekily. They waited patiently before Kyoya made the same realization. The door slammed open, and his shadow king aura could not have been greater. He made his way over to Hunni and Mori and sighed. Hunni just smiled.

"Being cute isn't going to fix this problem." Kyoya nearly spit, trying his best to reign in his anger. Mori stepped to the side of Kyoya and pat the boy on the shoulder.

"We can take you." He then walked off towards the door, holding his and Hunni's items. Kyoya sighed, a hand to his temple. Hunni bounced to Mori and climbed onto his shoulders._ "This is ridiculous."_ Kyoya thought before following his senpai's out.

Haruhi's day had been exactly what she needed. She made her way into the city, and found an old abandoned building. Climbing the fire escape to the roof she sighed contentedly. The air was cold and whipped around her, but it felt refreshing. She sat along the edge of the building looking out at everyone walking around. She lit a cigarette and breathed it in, almost in desperation. Exhaling she felt her mind relaxing. She watched the city, watched people interacting, watched the sky change. Her loneliness held her in place. This is how she always felt. Someone who could only watch. She thought she could feel happy with this, that knowing her presence wasn't affecting anyone, knowing she couldn't cause a hurt that ran deep within her. But now, she didn't know if she really felt happy, or if she was trying to ease some of the guilt. Her conscious felt heavy. She saw a child and it's mother eating crepes at a nearby park, playing, laughing. She felt tears threaten her eyes again, but took another deep drag and looked away. She was so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed when someone came up through the building.

"Oi, what are you doing here kid?" A red headed boy asked her, pulling the cigarette from her fingers and flicking it over the edge of the building. Haruhi nearly jumped out of her skin from the contact, and then took a fighting stance opposite of the boy.

"What's it look like asshole?" She questioned, trying to keep her fear from her voice. The boy just chuckled.

"Are you really going to act like that?" He asked amused. He took in the site of this odd boy, his glasses too big for his face, his clothing too big for his body, and his body rigid with fear. "You don't want to do that." He finished, trying to sound menacing.

"What's it to you?" she spit, not backing down. "I'm not hurting anyone." Her muscles relaxed a bit, and her stance shifted to one of a more experienced fighter. The boy didn't miss this, and smirked.

"This is my building." He stated matter of factly. To this he heard the boy scoff.

"Liar. There's a condemned sign on the door." She had seen it, before climbing up. She thought she could be alone.

"I put it there so people like you would stay away." He jammed his hands in his pockets, not liking how cold the air was. "I own this building." he repeated, darker this time, trying to make a point. Haruhi, wouldn't stop pushing though. This guy frustrated her, he had no right to walk up on her like that. He took a step closer to her, watching her tense once again. It seemed to be all he needed to advance quicker, grabbing her arm swiftly and kicking her legs from under her. The unexpected attack landed her on her ass, not before flipping him over her, with a death grip on the arm he had grabbed her with. He hadn't expected that, and wound up on his back, as she shuffled back up to her feet.

"I may not fight well, but I will not be pushed around." She glared at the boy. She was caught off guard when he just laughed. He sat up and took in the small boy before him again.

"I like you, you have heart kid." He said before standing. "But I don't want you on this building." He glared right back at her.

"Like I said I'm not hurting anyone!" She felt her anger in the back of her throat, but didn't let it out. "I just wanted to be alone!"

"Well you aren't now, are you? That means you can leave." He said, a mocking tone behind his words. He put his hands up behind his head, and watched the color in Haruhi's face rise.

"I'm not leaving." She pouted, sitting down on the ground where she had been standing, looking defiantly at the boy in front of her. His smile dropped. "_So stubborn._" He thought. He too sat where he had been standing.

"Then I guess you get to enjoy my company." He stated, glancing away, but watching from the corner of his eye, as Haruhi just sighed. He smirked and glanced out at the street. He heard the click of a lighter, and frowned. "No smoking." He stated, his voice hard. Haruhi just rolled her eyes, and continued anyways.

"You threw my other one away, if you don't like it, leave." She stated, a smirk playing on her features at the frustration rolling off the boy in front of her. She took him in for the first time. His red hair standing out the most, it reminded her of the twins, but brighter. This thought sent a pang of guilt to her heart, but she shoved it down. He was also wearing baggy clothing, though more stylish than hers. He had piercing green eyes, and a sharp jawline. His emotions were about as secret as hers, and this made her happy. He didn't seem a threat though, which surprised her tremendously. Though they had a small skirmish, he seemed to only want what she did. Sighing she breathed in deep again, her lungs a lit with anger, but she didn't care. He had watched her take him in, and was content with the relaxed state that Haruhi had fallen into. He was nervous he'd have to hurt the boy, but he could put up with a little frustration, just to understand the working of this kid.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" He questioned suddenly, taking note of the slight jump Haruhi had. She looked at him, but wouldn't let her eyes give her away.

"Aren't you?" She retorted, seeing as he didn't look much older.

"So that's a yes then?" he asked amused. She nodded, but gave no further explanation. They both went back to watching the street below, neither speaking. He watched her pinch the end of her cigarette with her finger tips and pocket the butt. He frowned. "Doesn't that hurt?" He asked, reaching for Haruhi's hand to examine it. She pulled away quickly, and shook her head. Taken aback by the behavior, he reached again. "I just want to see." He argued. She stood quickly, and bowed.

"I seem to have overstayed my welcome." She sighed. Tiredly she went to walk away, but the boy was not letting her go easily, he spun her to look her in the eyes. The motion had made her glasses slide down her nose, and he got a good sight of her eyes. He felt like he could swim in them, but shook it off. He wasn't gay. Shaking himself from his thoughts, he took in the startled expression Haruhi had, and the tremble of her body beneath his fingers. He let go instantly.

"Sorry." He whispered, dropping his hands to his side. He knew he had a scary appearance, but he didn't think it was that bad. Sighing he rubbed the back of his neck. "You don't have to leave." He turned away, expecting the boy to run. But he didn't. He went back to where he had been sitting and sighed.

"I don't like when people touch me." She stated barely above a whisper. His heart clenched slightly, but unsure why he shrugged it off. "But I'm not afraid of you!" She added with more desperation than anything in her voice. This caused him to smile, he sat next to Haruhi, and they resumed their quiet musings of the city below. "I'm Haruhi." She said breaking the silence.

"Ritsu." He said in response, glad he actually had a name to give the boy. They nodded in acknowledgment to each other, and Haruhi noticed the sky getting dark. He watched her take in the clouds, and looked at his watch. "It's close to four. School should have been over for a while now." He said, looking at her relived expression. They both stood and wiped the dirt from their clothing. Haruhi debated on offering her hand to the boy, but figured it was cold enough out that shaking his hand wouldn't give anything away. She took his hand in a firm shake, surprising him.

"Thank you for letting me stay." She sighed, happy that she hadn't had too much of a problem here. He gave a small smirk.

"I guess it wasn't too bad." He said, trying to sound cool. "But you never know next time." He teased, pushing her arm slightly.

"Who said there was a next time?" She teased back, liking the way the smirk dropped from his face. He regretted soundly like such a fool in front of this kid. _"He's not a girl_" He told himself and a deep blush covered his face. The sound of Haruhi's laughter broke through his thoughts, and he almost wished the boy was a girl. "I hope we see each other again soon." She spoke with honesty seeping through her words. She had enjoyed just sitting with another person. Not expectations, no questions, just relaxing in the presence of another. It made her feel she didn't have to be so afraid of silence. He looked at Haruhi and smiled.

"Me too." He added sheepishly, still embarrassed by his behavior. He watched Haruhi take the fire escape back to the ground, and leave. Sighing he slapped his hands to his face. "What is wrong with me!?" He angrily chastised himself. He too took his leave, thoughts trailing back to the odd boy with brown eyes.

Haruhi arrived early at school the next day. She knew her disappearance probably went unnoticed, but with her meeting with Ritsu yesterday, she felt more content in seeing these boys, and trying to get their forgiveness. She sat in the music room by herself for quite a while, trying to think of how to apologize to them. In her heart she felt as though she did nothing wrong, but she knew the looks they had on their face, and guilt surged through her like needles. The first to arrive were the twins. They didn't notice Haruhi in the room, as she was in the corner, but she approached them anyways. Shock overtook Hikaru when he felt someone tap his shoulder. Kaoru had been in front of him. He turned to see familiar brown eyes, and he latched onto the owners. Kaoru, noticing his brothers sudden movement, saw Haruhi being clutched tightly by his brother, and latched onto her too. They were squeezing her tightly, but she endured it, she felt she owed it to them.

"Sorry guys." She breathed out. "I'm trying." She sighed. "I just... I just need some time alright?" she questioned. Hoping that they could understand. The statement only made them cling tighter, but she didn't know the reasons. She hugged them back to the best of her ability, but eventually it became a bit too much. She pulled herself away, cautious not to make them think she would run again, though every fiber of her wanted to. She gave them a small smile, trying to ease whatever tension she could feel coming from them. They grabbed each others hands, and smiled back.

"We really thought we lost you Haruhi." Kaoru started, his eyes holding a slight shimmer.

"Yea, I thought we were best friends." Hikaru added, a smirk playing on his face, though the humor in it seemed to be distant. She nodded to them, and explained what had happened. They just laughed, and hugged her again. "I can't believe you just forgot to dry your uniform!" Hikaru laughed again, shaking his head. They had been worried they scared the boy off, when in actuality it had nothing to do with them. Kaoru sighed beside his brother, a happy smile reaching his eyes. Mori and Hunni made their way into the room, and Hunni jumped into Haruhi's arms, crying. She tried to shush him, and apologize but he just wailed, like a child. Her eyes softened. She rubbed his back and brushed her fingers through his hair to quiet him, like her mother used to do to her. The others looked on and had smiles on their lips, but Mori held shock in the depths of his eyes. He noticed something, but he wasn't sure if he was correct. Haruhi continued to console his small cousin, and to Mori, she looked just like a mother. Her brown eyes sought out his, and she gave him a smile that warmed him. He felt his face heat slightly, and broke eye contact. Haruhi thought he was still upset, and pushed Hunni over to Mori. Hunni's tears had stopped now, and he looked up to his cousin, but worry marred his features when he noticed Mori's confused expression. Haruhi bowed to them both and apologized, explaining that she hadn't been able to dry her uniform yesterday. Hunni erupted in a fit of laughter as the twins had, and even Mori looked a little relieved to know it wasn't their fault. As the giggles escaped the music room, Tamaki and Kyoya made their way in. Tamaki immediately leapt at Haruhi and began spinning her around, while she flailed with all her might to be put down. The rest of the hosts just shook their head at their president. He finally let her down and then began scolding her about not calling them, after she explained the situation. She looked away slightly, but brought her attention back to him to tell him she didn't have their numbers. He stood still opening his mouth up, but closing it in realization. Kyoya stepped forward and handed her a card.

"This is everyone in the club." He stated, though his words had a slight edge. She knew he would be more upset than the others, and she felt bad about that. She bowed to him in thanks, and looked him in the eye. He saw the worry she held there, the fear, and anxiety.

"I'm trying." She spoke barely above a whisper. Only he had heard her, but it still made something inside him upset. "I promise, I will let you in. You just have to give me some time." She spoke again, her voice somehow quieter than it was before. He nodded slightly, not sure why, but he wanted to trust her. She looked at the club, all their faces holding smiles again. She sighed. _"How am I going to get used to this?"_ She thought to herself. Her mind wandered back to the odd boy with the red hair. She'd have to thank him when she saw him. He gave her something she hadn't expected. Ritsu gave her hope that someone would be able to accept her, even if just in silence.


End file.
